Katrina Pross

Indianapolis, Minneapolis

Criminal Justice Reporter at Sahan Journal

criminal justice reporter @sahanjournal // formerly @wfyi @pioneerpress // alum of @umn_hsjmc @mndailynews

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Articles

Federal Judge Dismisses MPD Federal Consent Decree

3 weeks ago | spokesman-recorder.com | Katrina Pross

A federal judge approved the U.S. Department of Justice’s request to walk away from an agreement that would have brought sweeping changes to policing in Minneapolis. Last week, the DOJ asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit and federal consent decree, a legally binding agreement that would have required the city to create police reforms.
Jurors reach verdict in Derrick Thompson trial for crash that killed 5

3 weeks ago | sahanjournal.com | Katrina Pross

Jurors have reached a verdict in the trial of Derrick Thompson, who is charged with killing five young Somali-American women in a 2023 car crash. Jurors began deliberating at about 11:30 a.m. Thursday after hearing six days of arguments and testimony, and will announce their verdict shortly in open court. Thompson faces 10 counts of criminal vehicular homicide and five counts of third-degree murder for the June 16, 2023 crash.
Jurors weigh Derrick Thompson’s fate in crash that killed 5

3 weeks ago | sahanjournal.com | Katrina Pross

Jurors have begun deliberating the fate of Derrick Thompson, who is charged with killing five young Somali-American women in a 2023 car crash. Deliberations began at about 11:30 a.m. Thursday, after prosecutors and Thompson’s defense attorney made their closing arguments in the trial. Prosecutors say Thompson was driving a rented SUV at about 100 miles per hour when he abruptly exited Interstate 35W, ran a red light and T-boned a sedan, killing five young women inside.
Derrick Thompson’s brother says he never drove SUV linked to crash that killed 5

3 weeks ago | sahanjournal.com | Katrina Pross

The brother of Derrick Thompson testified in court Wednesday that he was not in the vehicle when it struck and killed five young women in Minneapolis in 2023. Prosecutors had not previously indicated that they intended to call Damarco Thompson to testify. In a last-minute move, Hennepin County District Court Judge Carolina Lamas signed an order compelling him to take the stand. Derrick Thompson is charged with 10 counts of criminal vehicular homicide and five counts of third-degree murder.
Victims’ siblings testify in Thompson trial about ‘nightmare’ day

3 weeks ago | sahanjournal.com | Katrina Pross

When Sundus Odhowa received a call from a relative saying that her younger sister had been killed in a car crash, she frantically texted and called her sister repeatedly. “Hey are you okay? Please tell me this isn’t real,” she texted Siham Odhowa. But she wouldn’t pick up. Siham and four other young women had been killed by a driver who was driving nearly 100 miles-an-hour, ran a red light and T-boned their car in Minneapolis.
Derrick Thompson complained about missing Friday night after fatal crash

3 weeks ago | sahanjournal.com | Katrina Pross

A car carrying five young Somali American women was so badly damaged in a 2023 crash that first responders initially couldn’t tell how many victims were inside, a Minnesota State Patrol trooper testified Monday. Trooper Vincent Wren was one of the first law enforcement officers at the crash scene on June 16, 2023, and testified that the women’s Honda Civic looked like a crushed soda can, with the middle part unrecognizable. “You couldn’t recognize it,” he said.
Derrick Thompson Archives

3 weeks ago | sahanjournal.com | Katrina Pross |Joey Peters

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Witnesses describe ‘horrific’ Minneapolis crash that killed 5 women

4 weeks ago | sahanjournal.com | Katrina Pross

The crash scene where Derrick Thompson’s SUV barreled into a car, killing five Somali American women, was “chaotic” and “horrific,” witnesses testified Friday in his murder trial. Dorinda Pacheco lives on 2nd Avenue near Lake Street where the crash occurred about 10 p.m. on June 16, 2023. She was outside with her dog getting the mail when Thompson’s 6,000-pound Cadillac Escalade SUV T-boned the women’s Honda Civic.
Jurors see video of fatal car crash in Derrick Thompson trial

4 weeks ago | sahanjournal.com | Katrina Pross

Jurors in Derrick Thompson’s murder trial watched graphic surveillance video Thursday of a Cadillac Escalade SUV barreling into a Honda Civic at about 100 miles an hour, engulfing the smaller vehicle in a cloud of smoke. Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Joseph Paquette told jurors in his opening statement that the 2023 incident is not “sufficiently described as a crash or a collision.”“It was an explosion,” he said.
Judge dismisses federal consent decree over Minneapolis policing

1 month ago | sahanjournal.com | Katrina Pross

A federal judge approved the U.S. Department of Justice’s request to walk away from an agreement that would have brought sweeping changes to policing in Minneapolis. Last week, the DOJ asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit and federal consent decree, a legally binding agreement that would have required the city to create police reforms.