Brother pleads guilty in death of sister during drunken race

A northern Minnesota man has admitted that he left a party as a drunken 18-year-old and crashed his pickup truck while racing, killing his teenage sister riding in the open bed.

Kyle Mitchell Lee Hardy, now 21, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Minneapolis to involuntary manslaughter. He faces a maximum of eight years in prison. Sentencing has yet to be scheduled.

According to the plea agreement, court documents and police reports:

Hardy left a party on Aug. 28, 2009, in Redby, on the Red Lake Indian Reservation, about 1 a.m. He drove his pickup toward Ponemah with sister Chastity Hardy and another juvenile riding in the back.

A car pulled up and the two vehicles started to race. While approaching a curve, Kyle Hardy drove off the road to avoid hitting the car.

Chastity Hardy and the other passenger were thrown from the truck's open bed. Chastity Hardy died, and the other victim suffered a broken ankle.