Background: News footage of the scene in Minneapolis, Minn. after Latalia Margalli ran her SUV into a crowd of people on Sept. 14, 2024 (KMSP). Inset (left): Latalia Margalli (Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office). Inset (right): De’Miaya Broome (Brooks Funeral Home).
A Minnesota woman who was accused of intentionally driving her SUV into a crowd of people, killing one of them, has pleaded guilty to the crime.
A statement from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced that 23-year-old Latalia Margalli entered a guilty plea to one count of second-degree unintentional murder and five counts of second-degree assault. Court records indicated that Margalli entered her plea on Tuesday and she is scheduled to be sentenced on June 24.
The conviction came months after the September 2024 incident that involved a physical altercation between Margalli and her victims, including 16-year-old De’Miaya Broome, who lost her life that night as a result of Margalli’s actions.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by KMSP, a local Fox affiliate, Margalli was part of a fight with a group of people in the early morning hours of Sept. 14, 2024. Broome was part of that group, along with two 14-year-old girls, a 24-year-old man, a 28-year-old man, and a 29-year-old woman. The confrontation escalated and eventually became physical.
At some point, Margalli left and got into her SUV. But rather than drive away from the fray, police said that she turned her vehicle to head the wrong way and “drove directly into the crowd of people, without [braking], and struck numerous people, including [the] victim,” according to the complaint.
The incident was caught on camera. At the time, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said during a press conference that the video was “absolutely horrific,” adding, “There aren’t words to describe how tragic and senseless it is to lose a 16-year-old female over something like this.”
According to the complaint, the five surviving victims suffered injuries ranging from bruises to broken bones. One victim suffered a head injury.
In her statement, Hennepin County State Attorney Mary Moriarty said “De’Miaya dreamt of becoming a nurse. Not only did her family lose a loved one, our community lost a person who aspired to help others.” She continued, “Ms. Margalli made a terrible decision that changed many lives that day. This guilty plea provides a pathway to a lengthy sentence that holds Ms. Margalli accountable and protects our community.”
The Hennepin County State Attorney’s Office plans to seek a sentence of 285 months — almost 24 years — for the second-degree murder charge and consecutive sentences for the assault charges.
