According to data obtained by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, there have been 28 criminal vehicular homicide cases referred to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office over the past 20 months, and in 20 of those cases, charges have been filed.

By contrast, during the same 20-month period starting January 1, 2023, there were only 10 criminal vehicular homicide cases filed in Ramsey County.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said one of the first things she noticed when she took over as county attorney was the high number of criminal vehicular homicide cases her office received.

“One of the things I have noticed as Hennepin County Attorney is how many criminal vehicular homicides we have,” said Moriarty. “These are some of the hardest cases we have, because they are completely unexpected, families are grieving and often it’s young people who are killed in these situations.”

Moriarty said the impact of criminal vehicular homicide cases is far-reaching.

“I have seen so many cases where, in a split second, somebody went through a red light. They were drinking. They looked down. Something of that nature. And, in a second, they changed their lives. And, they changed the lives of the person, who was in the car, who was just going about their business,” said Moriarty.