20-year-old Wisconsin woman charged in fatal Fairfax crash
OLIVIA -- A 20-year-old Eau Claire, Wis., woman faces six felony charges of criminal vehicular homicide or operation for a July 30 crash in Fairfax that killed a Seaforth man and injured seven of her passengers.
According to the complaint against See Xiong Moua and the accident report from the State Patrol, she failed to slow or stop the 1999 Toyota van she was driving at the intersection of State Highways 19 and 4, struck a 2010 Honda Civic driven by Jason Petty, 39, of Seaforth. Petty's car was then struck by an oncoming semi-tractor trailer rig and cut into two pieces. The complaint says Moua's vehicle was required to stop at the intersection while the other two vehicles had right of way.
Petty was extricated from the vehicle by emergency crews and airlifted to North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale, but he died en route as a result of his injuries.
The driver of the semi, Alvin Suess, 67, of Jacksonville, Ill., was not injured.
The charges against Moua were filed Thursday in Renville County District Court. Her first appearance is scheduled for Jan. 31.
The complaint says Moua's vehicle was driving at a speed of 64 mph in a 55 mph zone. The collisions were recorded on video from the gas station on the corner and the video was used by the State Patrol reconstructionist to determine the speed of all three vehicles as they approached the intersection.
The seven people injured were passengers in the van, including Xiong Kou Moua, 43, the defendant's mother, who was a front-seat passenger. She was hospitalized for 32 days, suffered a traumatic brain injury and a broken right tibia.
The other passengers, from age 6 to 18, suffered a multitude of broken bones, including a broken jaw, hip, legs and back bones, along with other injuries.
