Driver charged in deadly Bloomington crash involving teenage pedestrian

One of the two teenagers hit by a vehicle Friday night in Bloomington has died, and the driver has now been charged.

Bloomington police say they were told Sunday that 17-year-old Donald Earl Gayton Jr. died from his injuries.

The crash happened around 6:10 p.m. Friday near 78th Street and 12th Avenue. First responders found Donald Gayton Jr. and his 14-year-old sister, Tamya Gayton, lying in the roadway. They were taken to a hospital, with the brother’s injuries classified as “critical” and his sister’s as “severe.”

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The siblings’ father, Donald Gayton Sr., likened Tamya and Donald Jr. to Bonnie and Clyde. He described his son like many teenage boys — a little rough around the edges and a fierce protector of his sister.

“When I did my evaluation of what happened, my son pushed my daughter out the way he took the impact. That’s why he got seriously injured and she wasn’t,” the father said, adding that Tamya couldn’t remember what happened.

Donald Gayton Sr. recalled getting a call from Tamya saying, “Junior’s not breathing,” before rushing to meet them at the hospital.

On Saturday, reality hit that his son wasn’t going to make it.

“I broke down when I came here by myself Saturday night, and I cried and cried, phone ringing off the hook,” Donald Gayton Sr. said.

The driver of the suspect vehicle, who police identified as 27-year-old Mikala Jean Ness, was arrested. She was formally charged Monday afternoon with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and one count of criminal vehicular operation.

Court documents state that a witness told police she was driving east on 78th Street when a Toyota Corolla traveling at a high rate of speed passed her and she heard a loud thud and saw one of the victims fly through the air. The witness added that she pulled over and tried to slow other vehicles down, then saw Gayton unconscious and bleeding substantially from around his head.

At the scene, police found a plastic part of Ness’ car, which had the license plate attached and allowed officers to track her down.

Before officers even arrived at the scene, they also learned that the suspect car had crashed into the median off of Killebrew Drive, near Mall of America. The caller who reported that crash said he saw it happen and the driver then came up to his vehicle and he let her inside to stay warm. While sitting there, she confessed to hitting two people and killing someone, the criminal complaint states.

When officers responded to the Killebrew Drive crash scene, they noted it appeared the car had gone just south of the stop light, jumped a median and then crossed three more lanes before stopping on a hill. Ness told police she was coming from a holiday party but couldn’t remember where.

When asked about hitting the pedestrians, the complaint states she responded, “I feel like I did, but I don’t know.” She then failed field sobriety tests and a preliminary breath test showed her blood-alcohol content at 0.13.

Officers later went to the hospital to talk to the victims, and Tamya said they had walked from an apartment to the Walmart nearby, bought some candy and were headed back to the apartment at the time. She added that the sidewalk was covered by snow, so they were walking on the side of the road and had just decided to cross the street when they were struck, the complaint states.

The superintendent of Richfield Public Schools, where the teens are students, sent a statement to families Monday regarding the incident and also said a vigil was planned for 5 p.m. Monday at the scene of the crash.

“The family would like everyone to know that they are invited to attend this event and, if you choose, bring royal blue balloons to honor Donald Jr. and his family,” Superintendent Steven Unowsky’s letter said in part.

As of Monday, Tamya was in stable condition.

Ness is scheduled to make her first court appearance Tuesday afternoon.

If convicted, criminal vehicular homicide carries up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine while criminal vehicular operation carries up to a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.