A St. Paul woman has been charged with allegedly hitting two women with her car in Maplewood earlier this week, dragging one of them to her death.
Ashley Renee Couch, 34, is charged with one count each of premeditated murder and second-degree assault in connection with the death of 23-year-old Zakirrah Anderson.
Maplewood police arrived at the scene of the crash at the intersection of Larpenteur Avenue and Dieter Street around 9:20 p.m. Wednesday. Anderson was lying in the street with “catastrophic” injuries, a criminal complaint states. She was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead a short time later. Another victim, a 22-year-old woman, suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Witnesses told officers that two rival groups of women were planning to meet at nearby Wakefield Park at 9 p.m. to fight because one of the groups had shot at the other earlier in the day.
A Snapchat video of the incident shows Anderson and the other victim standing next to a car parked on the north side of Larpenteur Avenue at the intersection with Prosperity Road. A Dodge Charger turned left from Prosperity onto Larpenteur and struck the two women. The surviving victim was thrown into the air while Anderson was pulled under the Charger and dragged several feet.
A witness told police he heard the suspected driver shout, “I’m going to smack all of your asses,” before hitting the victims.
Maplewood Police investigators later received a tip from a “concerned citizen” who said Couch was the driver of the Charger involved in the crash.
Authorities issued an alert for a Charger registered to Couch. Police later discovered it in a St. Paul alley with fresh damage, the complaint states. Investigators noted that it looked like someone had tried to hide the vehicle because the rear license plate was removed and there were trash cans in front of it.
Couch was arrested and initially denied knowing anything about the incident. When she was shown the Snapchat video of the crash, she noted that she could not drive the Charger. However, she admitted to being at the scene of the crash to watch a fight and said her baby was in the car.
Eventually, Couch said she “tried to drive off” when she heard the other group talking about guns, and said she wouldn’t stop because she was afraid they would tear gas her car – the complaint says a can of bear spray was found at the scene. She denied trying to intentionally hit anyone.
Couch is scheduled to appear in court for the first time on Monday.
