Charges Filed in Fatal Pedestrian Hit-And-Run Crash

HASTINGS (AP) -- Prosecutors in Dakota County say a driver who struck and killed a pedestrian and left the scene said she thought she had hit a deer, even though the victim's head struck the windshield.

Felony charges were filed against 30-year-old Breyona Cotton Tuesday. She's accused of leaving the scene of the deadly crash in Inver Grove Heights in early January and failing to notify authorities. Fifty-five-year-old Haimanot Gebremedhin was killed in the crash.

A complaint says Cotton told investigators she heard a collision ``out of nowhere'' and thought she had struck a deer. She said she pulled over, looked around and went home.

The State Patrol says investigators determined the victim was forced onto the hood of Cotton's car with her head striking the lower portion of the windshield.