MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal jury on Friday convicted a Minnesota man accused of causing a 2023 car crash that killed five young women of federal firearm and drug offenses.
Derrick John Thompson, 29, of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, was found guilty of illegal possession of a firearm and fentanyl following a five-day trial. He still faces state charges of third-degree murder and criminal vehicular homicide in connection with a deadly car crash in June of 2023.
Prosecutors said Thompson, driving a black Cadillac Escalade, was speeding on a Minnesota freeway at 95 mph in a 55 mph-speed zone. A state trooper reported observing Thompson abruptly cut across four lanes of traffic to exit the freeway. Thompson then sped through a red light at an intersection at full speed and slammed into another car carrying five women, all of whom were killed.
After police officers searched the Escalade, which Thompson rented about 30 minutes before the crash, they found a bag containing a loaded Glock pistol with an extended magazine, as well as three baggies containing more than 2,000 fentanyl pills. They also found cocaine, fentanyl powder and a digital scale.
Thompson has multiple prior felony convictions and is prohibited under federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition, prosecutors said.
Matthew Deates, Thompson’s attorney, did not immediately respond to phone messages seeking comment. He told jurors at trial that the guns and drugs belonged to Thompson's brother, who has not been charged with a crime.
The victims in the crash — Salma Abdikadir, Siham Adam, Sabiriin Ali, Sahra Gesaade and Sagal Hersi — were aged from 17 to 20 years old. They were returning home from having henna applied in preparation for a friend’s wedding. Their deaths sparked sorrow and outage among Minnesota's sizeable Somali American population.
Court records show Thompson is the son of former state Rep. John Thompson, of St. Paul, who was a sharp critic of police during his one term in office. He no longer serves in the Minnesota Legislature and has yet to publicly comment on the case.
A sentencing hearing for the federal convictions will be scheduled at a later date.
FILE - Fake flowers are seen taped under the Interstate 35 highway overpass at the intersection of Lake Street and S. 2nd Avenue, June 17, 2023, in Minneapolis. (Leila Navidi/Star Tribune via AP, File)
New Jersey Transit urged riders to reach their destinations before the end of the day Thursday or risk being stranded as talks continued in a bid to avert a rail strike by train engineers that would affect some 350,000 commuters who work in New Jersey and New York City.
The advisory provided riders with details on contingency plans that would take effect if engineers walk off the job at 12:01 a.m. EDT Friday. The agency plans to increase bus service, saying it would add “very limited” capacity to existing New York commuter bus routes in close proximity to rail stations and will contract with private carriers to operate bus service from key regional park-and-ride locations during weekday peak periods.
However, the agency noted that the buses would not be able to handle close to the same number of passengers — only about 20% of current rail customers — so it is has urged people who can work from home to do so if there is a strike.
NJ Transit — the nation’s third largest transit system — operates buses and rail in the state, providing nearly 1 million weekday trips, including into New York City. A walkout would halt all NJ Transit commuter trains, which provide heavily used public transit routes between New York City’s Penn Station on one side of the Hudson River and communities in northern New Jersey on the other as well as the Newark airport, which has grappled with unrelated delays of its own recently.
Wages have been the main sticking point of the negotiations between the agency and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. The union says its members earn an average salary of $113,000 a year and says an agreement could be reached if agency CEO Kris Kolluri agrees to an average yearly salary of $170,000.
NJ Transit leadership, though, disputes the union’s data, saying the engineers have average total earnings of $135,000 annually, with the highest earners exceeding $200,000.
If the walkout happens, it would be the state’s first transit strike in more than 40 years. It comes a month after union members overwhelmingly rejected a labor agreement with management.
The parties met Monday with a federal mediation board in Washington to discuss the dispute, but both sides and the board have declined to comment on whether any progress has been made in subsequent talks this week.
An electronic display advises commuters of NJ Transit service disruptions at the Secaucus Junction station in Secaucus, N.J., Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
An electronic display advises commuters of potential NJ Transit service disruptions at the Secaucus Junction station in Secaucus, N.J., Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
An electronic display advises commuters of NJ Transit service disruptions at the Secaucus Junction station in Secaucus, N.J., Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
An NJ Transit train pulls into the Secaucus Junction station in Secaucus, N.J., Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
An electronic display advises commuters of potential NJ Transit service disruptions at the Secaucus Junction station in Secaucus, N.J., Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
