Man pleads guilty to killing 16-year-old skateboarder in drunken-driving crash

A Minneapolis man pleaded guilty Monday to killing a teenage skateboarder while driving drunk this summer.

Court records show Bobby Brookins, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the June 15 death of 16-year-old Dychaun Chew in Minneapolis.

According to a criminal complaint, Brookins’ blood-alcohol level was 0.16, twice the legal limit, when he struck Chew at the intersection of North 51st and Fremont avenues. After hitting Chew, Brookins continued driving north on Fremont, crashing into several parked cars along the way and losing a wheel before eventually coming to a stop on the front lawn of a home a block away from the fatal collision.

Brookins admitted to police at the time of his arrest that he was driving the vehicle and hit the victim. The black box in the suspect vehicle, a Chevrolet Traverse, showed that Brookins was traveling 55 mph when the airbags deployed and that he never hit the brakes, the complaint states.

Brookins was charged with two separate counts of criminal vehicular homicide. He initially pleaded not guilty to both counts but entered into a plea deal on Monday to amend one of his pleas to guilty.

The judge presiding over Brookins’ case set his sentencing for Feb. 22. He faces up to 15 years in prison.