A St. Paul man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for speeding with a revoked license while drunk and high and then crashing into the back of an SUV on an Interstate 94 ramp in Minneapolis last year, setting off a chain-reaction pileup that left a woman dead and several other people injured.
Talon Covie-Cardell Walker, 30, had pleaded guilty in Hennepin County District Court to criminal vehicular homicide and two counts of criminal vehicular operation in connection with the Oct. 23 crash that killed motorist Natalie Gubbay, 26, of Minneapolis.
Walker on Thursday got the longest prison term allowed under an August plea agreement. The presumptive sentence for criminal vehicular homicide with a criminal history score of zero is four years.
The wreck happened shortly after 9:15 p.m. as Walker exited eastbound Interstate 94 onto Lyndale Avenue and crashed into other motorists near Dunwoody Boulevard. Witnesses estimated Walker was going 100 mph at the time of the crash.
An analysis of a blood sample taken from Walker about 2½ hours later showed a .093 BAC, as well as the presence of fentanyl and marijuana, according to an amended criminal complaint filed in December. The legal limit to drive in Minnesota is .08 BAC.
Gubbay’s passenger, a 28-year-old Virginia, Minn., woman, lost consciousness and was diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries.
Walker and five others, including a 2-year-old boy, suffered injuries that weren’t considered life-threatening.
Walker’s license had been revoked since April 2021, according to the state Department of Public Safety. Prior to that, it had been suspended since November 2019.
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