Driver ran 2 red lights before plowing into 2 best friends who were visiting their friend with cancer

Background: News footage of the scene of the crash in Minneapolis, Minn., on Dec. 16, 2024, that killed Rose Reece and Esther Fulks (KARE). Inset (left): Teniki Steward (Hennepin County Sheriff's Office). Insets (top to bottom right): Rose Reece and Esther Fulks (GoFundMe).

A Minnesota woman who blew threw multiple traffic lights and caused a car crash that killed two women has entered a guilty plea.

Teniki Steward, 40, pleaded guilty on Monday to two counts of third-degree murder and two counts of criminal vehicular operation in connection with a car crash on Dec. 16, 2024, that claimed the lives of two women and injured two more people. According to court documents obtained by local Fox affiliate KMSP, Steward was speeding while driving her Buick Enclave and ran two red lights before crashing into a Ford Explorer carrying 57-year-old Rose Reece and 53-year-old Esther Fulks.

The collision sent the Ford into a nearby bus stop, where a 17-year-old boy was waiting for the bus to go to school. He and Steward's male passenger were both hospitalized with injuries.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a press release announcing the plea deal that Steward "narrowly avoided multiple collisions before striking Rose and Esther's vehicle."

Drakarr Lobley, Reece's son, told local NBC affiliate KARE that his mother and Fulks were best friends who both worked for the Cultural Wellness Center. On the morning of the crash, Lobley said the two friends were heading out to visit another friend who had recently received a cancer diagnosis.

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In a GoFundMe campaign in honor of Reece, Lobley said his late mother was "a force of compassion and strength in the Minneapolis community." He added, "For over 30 years, my mother was a tireless advocate" and a "beacon of hope, a source of strength, and a symbol of selfless service."

Fulks' daughter wrote in another GoFundMe campaign that Fulks was a "mother of four and very loved in her community."

Moriarty stated that Steward offered a "straight plea" that did not include a negotiated sentence. Steward's sentencing is scheduled for April 17.