Coon Rapids woman pleads guilty in vehicular homicide case

By KSTP

Delaisha Kenfield (Hennepin County Jail)

A Coon Rapids woman will learn her fate later this year after she was charged in connection to a fatal drunk driving crash.

Twenty-two-year-old Delaisha Kenfield originally faced two criminal vehicular homicide charges: Operating a vehicle with negligence under the influence of alcohol and operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration over 0.08, according to court filings.

Court documents show a plea agreement was reached and Kenfield pleaded guilty to the alcohol concentration charge.

As previously reported, Minneapolis police were called to a crash near Lowry Avenue Northeast and Grand Street Northeast in Minneapolis on May 29, 2021, at 2:49 a.m.

One car had hit a pole and two people were trapped inside. The Minneapolis Fire Department helped extricate the women. Kenfield, the driver, was injured, unresponsive and taken to a nearby hospital but the passenger was pronounced dead at the scene.

With a warrant, police obtained a blood sample from Kenfield at 5:32 a.m., which had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.128. Police said she didn’t drink more alcohol between the blood draw and their arrival at the scene.

A witness told police that they saw Kenfield’s car travel at a high rate of speed toward the intersection, pass at least one car that was stopped at the intersection, lose control and swerve into a semaphore, according to a complaint.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the victim’s death an accident due to multiple blunt force injuries resulting from the crash.

Documents state Kenfield’s sentencing is set for April 26.