Son Of Ex-DFL Rep. Charged With Murder

MINNEAPOLIS — Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty on Monday announced her office is amending charges against Derrick Thompson in connection with a 2023 Minneapolis crash that killed five young women.

Derrick Thompson — the son of former St. Paul Democratic-Farmer-Labor Rep. John Thompson — is now charged with five counts of third-degree murder.

The murder charges are on top of the original 10 counts of criminal vehicular homicide.

Thompson is accused of driving 95 mph on Interstate 35W, passing a state trooper, exiting on Lake Street, and then running a red light and smashing into the victims’ car at a high rate of speed.

Thompson's crash killed five women ages 17 to 20: Salma Mohamed Abdikadir, Sahra Liban Gesaade, Sagal Burhaan Hersi, Siham Adan Odhowa, and Sabiriin Mohamoud Ali.

"The sad fact is that he has done this before," said Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty.

"Just six months before this crash, Mr. Thompson was released from a California prison for fleeing police, speeding off the highway and onto city streets where he struck and severely injured a woman."

Moriarty added that Thompson's "lengthy record of dangerous driving, the trail of devastation he’s left in his wake, and his conduct in this case make these more serious charges appropriate."

Thompson's previous driving-related convictions include:

• Felony evading police causing injury or death, felony hit-and-run resulting in serious bodily injury or death, and felony conspiracy (18-CR-08-676) (2020, California);
• Fleeing police in a motor vehicle and false information to police (62-CR-17-7622) on May 7, 2018; and
• Numerous convictions for driving after suspension and driving after revocation.
• His Minnesota driver’s license was revoked in 2018 after he was convicted of fleeing police in a motor vehicle. His license was reinstated in March 2023.

On June 16, 2023, a trooper with the Minnesota State Patrol watched as a black Cadillac SUV sped north on I-35W at 95 miles per hour in a 55 miles per hour speed zone, according to authorities.

The driver — later identified as Thompson — abruptly cut across four lanes of traffic to exit the freeway at the Lake Street exit, investigators said.

The trooper began following the SUV but did not initiate the emergency lights, fearing the driver would make a dangerous decision, according to authorities.

At 2nd Avenue South and East Lake Street, Thompson sped through a red light at the intersection without stopping or slowing and struck — at full speed — the driver’s side of a Honda Civic that was traveling lawfully through the intersection, investigators said.

All five occupants of the Honda Civic were killed.

At the scene, witnesses reported that Thompson fled on foot through a nearby alley, according to authorities. Police found Thompson sitting on the curb outside of a nearby restaurant and arrested him.

Officers detained Thompson, who was later transported to Hennepin County Medical Center for evaluation.

At the scene, police found a Hertz rental record for the Cadillac SUV, indicating that Thompson rented the vehicle from a Hertz located at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport only 30 minutes before the crash, according to authorities.

A search of the SUV turned up a black leather bag that contained a loaded Glock pistol with an extended magazine, three baggies containing more than 2,000 blue "M-Box 30" fentanyl pills, a baggie containing an additional 14 grams of powdered fentanyl, a baggie containing 13 MDMA pills, a baggie containing 35 grams of cocaine, and a digital scale, according to police.

Thompson has multiple prior felony convictions and is prohibited under federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition at any time, authorities said.