The driver who is suspected of striking and killing a 55-year-old Inver Grove Heights grandmother Saturday told investigators she thought she had hit a deer.
Breyona Cotton, 30, went to the Inver Grove Heights police station with her attorney about 12:45 p.m. Sunday — 19 hours after the crash — and said she was the driver and that “she believed she struck a deer,” according to an application for a search warrant filed this week in Dakota County District Court.
Haimanot Gebremedhin of Inver Grove Heights was found dead on the north side of 80th Street, east of Blaine Avenue, about 5:45 p.m. Saturday. She had injuries to her face and hand, and her body “was positioned in a way that indicated she had been struck by a vehicle,” the court document read.
In the police interview, Cotton, who lives in Inver Grove Heights, said she was driving west on 80th Street when she hit something and continued a bit before turning north on Blaine Avenue and pulling over.
She said she did not get out of her vehicle, but “looked around expecting to see a deer running away,” the document read. “She did not see anything, so she continued on her way home.”
During the interview, Cotton indicated on a map the approximate location of the crash, which was about 100 feet from where Gebremedhin was found.
Cotton said she only went to police Sunday after seeing a social media post about the crash and realizing that she had been in the area.
Cotton had driven her car — a 2013 Hyundai Sonata — to the police station, and officers found significant damage to the car’s front, hood and windshield consistent with the crash, according to the court document.
Cotton was booked into Inver Grove Heights jail on suspicion of criminal vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident, and released to her attorney.
Neither Cotton nor her attorney could be reached for comment Tuesday.
Inver Grove Heights police Cmdr. Josh Otis said Tuesday that investigators are awaiting a crash reconstruction report from the Minnesota State Patrol before sending the case to the Dakota County attorney’s office for possible charges.
Inver Grove investigators executed a search of Cotton’s car on Monday and swabbed DNA found on the hood and windshield, where hair was also found, according to the court document.
Investigators also obtained a search warrant to examine Cotton’s cellphone for evidence, including call logs and text messages. The Dakota County Electronic Crimes Unit will conduct the phone analysis.
Otis, who conducted the interview with Cotton, said, “At this time, we suspect there was no impairment involved.”
A search warrant to obtain a blood sample from Cotton was not pursued, according to Otis, “because I thought we didn’t have probable cause for a search of somebody’s blood of impairment at that time, 19 hours after a crash.”
It is yet unclear exactly where Gebremedhin was when struck, Otis said. She was found lying on the boulevard grass on the north side of 80th Street, near the sidewalk. There are sidewalks on either side of the road, which has a 40 mph posted speed limit.
Before the crash, Gebremedhin was working out with her husband at the city’s community center. She decided to leave early and was walking home alone when she was hit about four blocks east of the community center.
After the collision, her husband called her cellphone, looking for her, Otis said. An officer answered and told him what had happened. He was picked up and brought to the crash scene.
“It was an unfortunate, tragic event,” Otis said.
According to Minnesota court records, Cotton was convicted of gross misdemeanor driving while impaired (refuse to submit to chemical test) in November 2010 in Washington County District Court. She was convicted of driving without a license in 2006.