Killing of Deona Marie Knajdek

Deona Marie Knajdek (also reported as Deona Marie Erickson), a 31-year old American woman, was killed on June 13, 2021, when a man drove a car into a crowd of demonstrators who had gathered as a part of the Uptown Minneapolis unrest. That evening, demonstrators protesting the law enforcement killing of Winston Boogie Smith had blocked the intersection of West Lake Street and Girard Avenue. At approximately 11:39 p.m. CDT, a man in a late-model Jeep Cherokee drove into the crowd at a high speed, striking a parked vehicle that had been used to block off the intersection to traffic, which then collided with protesters, killing Knajdek and injuring three others.

The driver, Nicholas Kraus of Saint Paul, Minnesota, was charged with second-degree intentional murder and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon in relation to the crash, after allegedly telling investigators that he had accelerated towards the crowd in an attempt to clear cars acting as barricades. Investigators believed that Kraus might have been intoxicated during the incident. After being charged criminally, Kraus was found mentally competent to stand trial. To avoid trial in late 2022, Kraus pleaded guilty to second degree unintentional murder (the second degree intentional murder charged was dropped) and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon. He admitted to the court that the night he killed Knajdek he was under the influence of illegal narcotics and that he intentionally drove his car into barricades that blocked the street. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.