Girl on her way to school with her family killed in crash after teen driver allegedly runs stop sign in Independence

Five members of the girl’s family were hospitalized after the crash Wednesday.

A trip to school ended in tragedy for a Maple Plain family Wednesday morning when their vehicle was struck by a teenage driver who allegedly ran a stop sign in Independence, killing an 11-year-old girl, authorities said.

The crash happened about 7:55 a.m. at County Roads 6 and 110, said Sgt. John Howes of the West Hennepin Public Safety Department, closing the intersection for three hours.

“This is an extremely devastating incident for the family, our community and our first responders. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family as they endure this unimaginable loss,” the department said in a social media post.

Names of the drivers and victims had not been released as of Thursday evening.

According to witnesses, a 41-year-old woman driving her four children to school on southbound County Road 110/83 stopped at County Road 6 for a four-way stop. When she proceeded, a westbound pickup driven by an 18-year-old St. Paul man slammed into the family’s SUV, authorities said. Witnesses told police the pickup failed to obey the stop sign.

The occupants of the SUV — the mother, a 43-year-old father and their children, including two 15-year-old boys, the 11-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy — were taken to North Memorial Health Hospital with “moderate to severe” injuries, police said. The girl was later transferred to Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis, where she died.

The pickup driver was not hurt and had not been cited as of Thursday, said West Hennepin Public Safety Director Gary Kroells.

“This case remains under a pending criminal investigation,” he said. “We are conducting a thorough investigation to determine the cause of the crash.” The State Patrol assisted police in gathering data for a full crash reconstruction, he added.