Woman who rammed SUV into crowd pleads guilty to murder, assault
The 23-year-old woman who killed 16-year-old De’Miaya Broome and injured five others after ramming an SUV into a crowd last year entered a guilty plea on Tuesday.
Latalia Anjolie Margalli pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder and five counts of second-degree assault in connection with the deadly September 2024 hit-and-run at the corner of 5th Street and Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis.
Police previously told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that just after midnight on Sept. 14, teenagers and adults in their 20s were brawling on the sidewalk when Margalli got into an SUV, backed up down Hennepin Avenue and drove through the crowd of more than a dozen people before driving away.
Court documents state that Margalli was driving so quickly that she knocked her passenger to the ground with the passenger door, which was still open.
A witness said Margalli left the fight and went to her vehicle after one of the other people involved in the fight started spraying mace. She added that the group taunted Margalli and her friends for leaving the fight and that one of Margalli’s friends got out of the SUV to rejoin the fight. Margalli reportedly then got back into her SUV and drove into the crowd before fleeing the scene.
Another witness said he saw the SUV ram into the crowd and that Margalli “didn’t hit her brakes or nothing.”
According to court documents, one of the victims said Margalli threatened to shoot the group before getting her SUV.
Six people were injured in the crash and sent to the hospital.
RELATED: Victim recalls moment driver hit crowd, killed 16-year-old in downtown Minneapolis
Broome later died at the hospital. A 29-year-old woman, two 14-year-old girls and two men, ages 24 and 28, were also injured, police said.
Police were able to find Margalli shortly after the crash because a witness followed her.
Public records show Margalli was driving with a suspended license and has previously had her license revoked several times.
“De’Miaya dreamt of becoming a nurse. Not only did her family lose a loved one, our community lost a person who aspired to help others,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said. “Ms. Margalli made a terrible decision that changed many lives that day. This guilty plea provides a pathway to a lengthy sentence that holds Ms. Margalli accountable and protects our community.”
Prosecutors plan to ask the court to sentence Margalli to nearly 24 years (285 months) in prison, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. Her sentence will be decided by a judge on June 24.