Woman convicted in fatal Burnsville racing crash sentenced to 15 years
Camille Dennis-Bond talks before she's sentenced on March 24, 2023.
A Burnsville woman convicted of multiple charges was sentenced Friday morning for her role in an April 2021 crash that killed two people.
A judge ordered 21-year-old Camille Dennis-Bond to spend 15 years (180 months) in prison for the crash that killed 22-year-old Tayler Nicole Garza and 22-year-old Dalton Lee Ford while Dennis-Bond was racing her brother. She will receive credit for 107 days previously served behind bars.
Dennis-Bond was convicted of third-degree murder, criminal vehicular homicide, criminal vehicular operation and careless driving back in December.
The crash happened at around 10:30 a.m. on April 4, 2021, on Country Road 42 between Burnsville Parkway and Newton Avenue. Court documents state that Dennis-Bond and her brother, Leon Bond, were racing when Bond’s vehicle T-boned a vehicle that Ford and Garza were inside. A crash reconstruction report said Bond’s vehicle was traveling 93-100 mph at the point of the crash; the speed limit is 50 mph.
Because Bond was a juvenile at the time, prosecutors tried to certify him as an adult but that was denied. He then pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree murder and was sentenced earlier this year to probation with a stayed 25-year prison sentence.
Several family members spoke in court ahead of Dennis-Bond’s sentencing and both Dennis-Bond and her mother also made statements. Prosecutors had requested consecutive sentences for a total of 25 years in prison while Dennis-Bond’s attorney asked for a downward departure and said she was amenable to probation.
Ultimately, the judge determined Dennis-Bond’s lack of a prior criminal history and the fact that her brother’s vehicle, not hers, struck the victims weighed against consecutive sentences.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story said Dennis-Bond was sentenced to 12.5 years based on what the court’s sentencing order showed. It has since been updated to reflect that that order was wrong and is being changed to 15 years.