MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Blaine motorist who struck a woman who was walking her dog along a road last fall has pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular manslaughter.
John R. Jones, 31, was initially charged with criminal vehicular homicide in Anoka County District Court in connection with the hit-and-run death of 56-year-old Bridget O’Keefe Dunn in Blaine on Oct. 25.
The Star Tribune reports under the conditions of the plea, Jones would serve one year in the workhouse and six months on probation.
If the case had gone to trial and he’d been convicted of vehicular homicide, he faced up to 10 years in prison.
Sentencing is scheduled for March 24.
When arrested, Jones told police he thought he’d struck either a dog or a sign and not a person before leaving the scene. He was driving even though his license was suspended.
Dunn’s husband, Chris, said his wife had been walking on the shoulder with their dog, Sully, who made it home after the crash.
