Man charged with fatally hitting woman with his car appears in court Monday

UPDATE 11/01/22: An omnibus hearing was held instead of a plea hearing. Puller’s next court appearance is Dec. 6.

Tiwan Darnell Puller, who was charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide in connection with a woman being hit by a car Sept. 14, will have a plea hearing Monday afternoon.

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According to court documents, Puller was driving southbound on I-94 in Minneapolis at 3:30 a.m. Sept. 14, when he rear ended another car. Puller then sped off at 80 mph and exited onto Broadway Avenue, where he drove through a yellow light and fatally hit 21-year-old Alexandra Joyce Renee Perkins, of Minneapolis according to officials. Perkins was identified by Minnesota State Patrol.

After he hit Perkins, he continued onto the entrance ramp onto southbound I-94, court documents said. On the entrance ramp, Puller hit a concrete barrier and a metal guardrail, officials said. He then walked up the entrance ramp and tried to enter the car he rear-ended, before walking back to his own car, according to court documents.

Puller did not call 911, officials said.

When troopers got to the scene they saw Puller fall out of the passenger side of his car, court documents said. Puller told a trooper that he hit Perkins and that he thought she was dead, according to the complaint. Puller told the trooper he hit another car, fled the scene, travelled through the intersection too quickly and hit somebody, court documents said.

During the conversation, the trooper smelled marijuana and alcohol on Puller and noticed that he appeared drunk, according to the complaint.

Perkins was pronounced dead when EMS arrived on scene, court documents said.

A blood draw showed the presence of methamphetamine and traces of THC, according to the complaint. Puller’s BAC was 0.04, court documents said.