Woman, 2 Children Killed in Maple Grove Crash
A submitted photo shows the wreckage of a single-vehicle crash in Maple Grove on Saturday, May 8, 2021.
A woman and two young children died of their injuries after a one-vehicle crash around 7 a.m. near Dunkirk Ln. & Lawndale Ln. in Maple Grove, Minn., Saturday, May 8.
Initial investigation shows the 25-year-old female driver of the vehicle lost control, left the roadway and struck a tree near the intersection. The driver, a 3-year-old girl and a 2-year-old boy died after the crash, authorities said, and a 23-year-old male passenger was transported to the hospital, expected to survive his injuries.
Maple Grove police say the 2006 Ford Focus was found with severe damage, “separated in two parts,” and reconstruction was started at the crash scene, with the road closed for much of Saturday.
The victims of the crash were identified by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner as Kiara Tashay Jones, 25, Lily My'Joy Kendrick, 3, and Joshua Vishnu Kendrick, 2. Jones was the mother of both Joshua and Lily, Maple Grove police said.
Jones died of her injuries at the scene of the crash and the children died of their injuries after being taken to hospitals in Minneapolis. The front-seat passenger, Colin Stanifer-Brown, 23, was transported to the hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
A “conservative estimate” of the vehicle’s speed before the crash was 80 MPH, police said. The speed limit in that area is 45 MPH. Authorities continue to investigate the circumstances of the crash, whether drugs or alcohol were a factor, and if the children were properly restrained.