Man Pleads Guilty in Crash that Killed St. Joseph Worker

Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom says 23-year-old Kirk Edward Deamos of Raymore, Mo., pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of careless driving, a misdemeanor.

The complaint says Deamos was driving on Interstate 35W through Burnsville on Oct. 13, 2011, when he struck 47-year-old Craig Carlson of Ramsey and 44-year-old Ronald Rajkowski of St. Joseph, killing them.

The judge sentenced Deamos to 30 days in jail, 200 hours of community service and a $100 fine.

The prosecutor says under current Minnesota law, felony charges were not possible in this case. That's because no drugs or alcohol were involved, gross negligence could not be proved and Deamos didn't flee the scene of the crash.