Man Charged With Killing Pregnant Teen, Trying To Carjack Family
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Minneapolis man is facing charges after police say he hit and killed a pregnant teenage pedestrian last week while fleeing officers at high speeds in a residential neighborhood.
The Hennepin County Attorney's Office says 36-year-old Howard William Amos was charged Friday with one count of causing a death while fleeing a peace officer and one count of robbery.
The criminal complaint says officers witnessed Amos speed down a north Minneapolis street in an SUV on the night of Sept. 2, driving over the center isle on Emerson Avenue North at 33rd Avenue North.
Officers began to peruse Amos, who began traveling at speeds approaching 60 miles an hour. Amos then drove over a roundabout at 36th Avenue North and crashed into parked cars.
The complaint says Amos then bailed out of the still-moving SUV and began to run toward Fremont Avenue with officers in pursuit. An officer tried to stop Amos, even deploying an electroshock weapon, but the suspect continued to run.
Amos allegedly then jumped into a moving vehicle with three woman and two children inside. The driver says Amos sat on her and tried to take control of the vehicle, saying, "Let me borrow this."
Officers caught up to the vehicle as Amos was attempting to carjack it, and eventually were able to pull him out of the car and arrest him.
The complaint says when Amos drove the SUV over the roundabout, the vehicle slammed into 16-year-old Diana Garcia-Alvarado, from Phoenix. Police say the girl – who was about three-months pregnant – was walking home from a nearby store with her boyfriend after buying milk.
Garcia-Alvarado's boyfriend told investigators they saw police lights and heard sirens approach. His girlfriend got scared, ran across the street and made it to the curb as Amos' SUV, which did not have its headlights on, jumped the roundabout and slammed into her.
She was taken to North Memorial Medical Center, where she died a short time later.
Officers recovered a loaded handgun on the driver's side floor of Amos' SUV, which he was not allowed to have due to a prior felony conviction. He also had two felony warrants out for his arrest in Hennepin and Ramsey counties for fleeing in a motor vehicle, burglary and possessing stolen property.
Amos was suspected of driving under the influence, and a sample of his blood was sent to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for testing.
He is currently in the Ramsey County Jail, and could face more criminal charges.
