Man receives prison sentence for fatal 2021 St. Paul hit-and-run crash

A Minneapolis man will spend the next few years in prison after being convicted of two charges stemming from a fatal crash in St. Paul early last year.

Friday, Judge Joy Bartscher sentenced 33-year-old Xia Her-Xiong, 33 to 10 years in prison for one count of Criminal Vehicular Homicide and 14 months for one count of Criminal Vehicular Operation. Her-Xiong will get credit for 62 days already served for the Vehicular Homicide charge, but no time for the Vehicular Operation charge. He must also pay more than $4,100 in restitution.

The two prison sentences handed down Friday will run consecutively, however, as part of a plea deal, will run concurrently with charges stemming from a separate case. In that case, Her-Xiong was convicted of Aiding and Abetting Theft of a Movable Prop Without Consent. He was sentenced to serve 26 months (2 years and two months) in the St. Cloud prison in that case, with 306 days of credit.

Her-Xiong was arrested on Jan. 7, 2021, after a crash that happened at Minnehaha Avenue and Atlantic Street. The crash resulted in the death of 60-year-old Alison Annen.

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Police said the crash happened around 3 a.m. on Jan. 7 after a stolen Ford Focus was spotted by an officer near the intersection of Franklin Street North and Phalen Boulevard. When the officer turned his vehicle to investigate, the driver of the suspect vehicle drove away. While police say a chase didn’t happen, the officer followed the path of the vehicle, and eventually found a crash involving the Ford Focus and a PT cruiser on Minnehaha Avenue.

Annen, the driver of the PT Cruiser, died at the scene. Another person in the PT Cruiser was taken to the hospital, and two passengers in the Focus were also hospitalized.

Court documents show Her-Xiong was originally charged with one count of criminal vehicular homicide- operating a vehicle in a grossly negligent manner and one count of theft-taking/driving a motor vehicle without owner’s consent. However, the complaint was amended a few days later, and prosecutors added one count of criminal vehicular homicide- driver leaving the scene and one count of criminal vehicular operation- substantial bodily harm- driver leaving the scene.

A criminal complaint states Her-Xiong has 13 previous felony convictions, of which seven involved the theft of motor vehicles.

In December 2021, Her-Xiong filed a petition to enter a guilty plea, which stated he would plead guilty to the counts which were added later. In exchange, the other two charges would be dismissed, a different court case against him would be dismissed, he wouldn’t be charged with felony possession of a firearm, and he would also pay restitution.

However, he then failed to appear at a March 1 hearing, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. The warrant was cleared after he was arrested in late October.

The maximum sentence for the criminal vehicular homicide charge is 10 years in prison, a $20,000 fine, or both. The criminal vehicular operation charge carries a maximum sentence of three years behind bars, a $10,000 fine, or both.