16-year-old killed, arrested after driver plows into crowd in downtown Minneapolis

Minneapolis police said a suspect has been arrested after a fatal hit-and-run crash killed a teenager and sent five others to the hospital.

According to the Minneapolis Police Department, the situation unfolded before 12:23 a.m. Saturday near Fifth Street North and Hennepin Avenue.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said teenagers and adults in their 20s were brawling on the sidewalk when a person involved in the fight got into an SUV, backed onto Hennepin Avenue and drove through the crowd of more than a dozen people before driving away.

Six people were injured in the accident and were sent to hospital.

A 16-year-old girl died in hospital. A 29-year-old woman was injured and is in critical condition. Two 14-year-old girls and two men aged 24 and 28 are expected to survive, police said.

Family members identified the deceased girl as De’Miaya Broome. Her mother, Andrea Mitchell Broome, said De’Miaya had recently transferred from Spring Lake Park High School to the Minnesota Internship Center and hoped to one day become a nurse.

“She was so excited because she told me, ‘Mom, I’m going to change my life. I’m going to do right by you, I’m going to graduate and I’m going to be the best,'” Mitchell Broome said.

De’Miaya is remembered by her loved ones as a young girl who cherished her family. Today, they are searching for answers as to why this young woman’s life was cut short.

“I want you to know that we want justice, and I say it this way: This young woman, my niece, did not deserve this act. She did not deserve it,” said De’Miaya’s uncle, Andrea Mitchell. “My sister did not deserve to go through this, and neither did my mother.”

The woman who allegedly drove into the crowd began to leave downtown, followed by a witness. O’Hara said officers acted on information from 911 calls and were able to stop the suspect driver in the 2300 block of Bryant Avenue North.

Latalia Anjolie Margalli, 22, was taken into custody on suspicion of murder. She is being held at the Hennepin County Jail.

O’Hara called the video of the incident “absolutely horrific.”

“There are no words to describe how tragic and senseless it is to lose a 16-year-old girl to something like this,” O’Hara said. “However, we are grateful because it is clear that we could have had more deaths and more injuries.”

Police say they are still investigating the motive for the crash.