Left: Connor Michael Iversen (Hennepin County Sheriff”s Office). Right: Lilyana Loycano (GoFundMe).
A Minnesota teenager who was already in custody for another violent felony charge now faces allegations of vehicular homicide months after he was involved in a fatal car crash in February.
Connor Michael Iversen, 18, was already in jail on a charge of felony assault in connection with a stabbing incident that occurred in March. Not long before that alleged altercation, Iversen was behind the wheel of his GMC Sierra pickup truck on the morning of Feb. 26 when he allegedly ran a stop sign and crashed into an SUV carrying six members of the Loycano family. Lilyana Loycano, 11, suffered the most serious injuries and died after spending days on life support.
According to a probable cause affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime, a witness saw Iversen’s truck drive through a four-way stop sign intersection “without stopping.” Police said further investigation revealed that Iversen was on his phone “in the moments leading up to the crash.”
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Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced the new charge against Iversen on Monday, saying in a statement, “After this case was submitted to our office in mid-July, we conducted a thorough review and are confident in our charging decision. Lilyana should still be with her family. This terrible incident serves as another reminder of the devastating impact dangerous driving has on our communities.”
According to the probable cause affidavit, Iversen allegedly ignored not just the stop sign he ran, but “pre-warning signs” alerting drivers to an approaching stop sign. He was also reportedly driving 63 mph where the speed limit was 50 mph. Court records revealed that Iversen was also arrested in December 2024 after allegedly attempting to flee police in his vehicle.
Law&Crime reviewed the probable cause affidavit connected to that prior case, which stated that Iversen allegedly refused to pull over after officers observed him “passing in a no passing zone, passing on the shoulder, driving erratic, almost rear-ending people, speeding, all over the road.” Iversen allegedly reached speeds up to 100 mph during the chase he took police on.
After deploying stop sticks, Iversen crashed and fled the scene on foot. He was apprehended by police and read his rights. During an interview, he allegedly told police that he “gets too crazy” when he drives and said that the Chevy Impala he was driving, which was registered to his mother, was the third vehicle he had crashed.
Iversen was charged with fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle, a felony.
Now facing charges in connection with three felony cases, Iversen remains in custody in Hennepin County on $150,000 bond for the vehicular homicide charge. He is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 8.
