Inset left: Rolando Odir Miranda Martinez (Dakota County Jail). Inset right: Leslie Anne Youngberg (Obituary). Background: The intersection where Miranda Martinez killed Youngberg with his Honda CR-V in Eagan, Minn. (Google Maps).
A Minnesota man will avoid prison time for his role in a vehicular homicide that took the life of a pedestrian late at night.
In April, Rolando Odir Miranda Martinez, 59, pleaded guilty to one count of leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death over a crash that killed 40-year-old Leslie Anne Youngberg earlier this year.
On Thursday, the defendant learned his punishment would be a relatively short stint of 180 days in jail — with credit for 97 days served in pretrial detention, Dakota County Jail records show.
On March 7, Miranda Martinez was behind the wheel of a Honda CR-V that hit Youngberg during the early morning hours, according to a criminal complaint obtained by St. Paul-based ABC affiliate KSTP.
The underlying incident occurred near the intersection of Cliff Road and Nichols Road in Eagan, a medium-sized city and suburb in the Twin Cities metro area, according to the charging document.
Around 2 a.m. on the night in question, when Youngberg was out walking, the Honda struck and killed her before the driver fled the scene. The victim was unresponsive by the time paramedics arrived and she was pronounced dead upon arrival at a nearby hospital.
A witness walking with Youngberg said the car never stopped.
The witness said he and Youngberg were traveling north on Nichols and crossing Cliff at the time, according to law enforcement cited in an earlier KSTP report. Youngberg was walking about 20 feet ahead and the car was traveling east, the witness told investigators.
Law enforcement used a combination of car parts left at the scene of the hit-and-run as well as surveillance footage to find the white CR-V with heavy front-end damage, according to the charging document.
Police found Miranda Martinez and the damaged SUV at the defendant's residence around 11:15 a.m. that same day. But while officers were waiting for backup, Miranda Martinez got into an Uber.
The defendant was arrested without incident when police pulled the rideshare vehicle over a short time later.
While in the back of a squad car, the defendant made comments about a person in the road, police said. During his formal interview with detectives, Miranda Martinez said he had been at a bar in Minneapolis the prior night and was heading home — but he denied drinking.
The defendant said he recalled a "thing" jumping out onto the road in front of him and breaking his windshield, police said. Miranda Martinez explained that he continued home because he was scared.
The victim was remembered fondly in a GoFundMe for funeral expenses.
"She was a devoted single parent to her 16-year-old son, and her world revolved around caring for him and supporting others," the online fundraiser reads. "Her gentle spirit shone through in her work with small children at a local daycare, where she made a lasting impact on countless young lives. Her love for animals and her nurturing nature touched everyone she met, and her absence is felt deeply by her family, friends, and the community."
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