St. Paul man who drove into crowd of Uptown protesters pleads guilty to murder, assault

An intoxicated St. Paul man who drove into a crowd of Uptown protesters in June 2021, killing a Minneapolis woman, pleaded guilty Monday to unintentional murder and assault charges just as his case was set to go to trial.

Nicholas Kraus, 36, was charged with intentional second-degree murder in connection with the crash that killed 31-year-old Deona Knajdek and injured three others in a crowd decrying the recent fatal shooting of Winston Boogie Smith Jr. by U.S. marshals.

As part of a plea deal, prosecutor Dan Allard said, the second-degree murder charge was amended to unintentional. Kraus also pleaded guilty to second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon for injuring another protester, but a second assault count for injuring another protester was dropped. He will be sentenced Nov. 23.

https://www.startribune.com/st-paul-man-pleads-guilty-to-murder-of-woman-after-driving-into-crowd-of-uptown-protesters-in-2021/600218609/