The younger of two siblings whose high-speed car race caused a double fatal crash on County Road 42 in Burnsville nearly two years ago will remain on juvenile probation until he’s 21 and serve a long-term placement at the Red Wing Correctional Facility.
Leon Bond, 19, was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty Jan. 10 to two counts of third-degree murder in the April 2021 crash that killed Dalton Lee Ford, of Burnsville, and Tayler Nicole Garza, of Woodbury, both 22.
Dakota County District Judge Christopher Lehman stayed an adult sentence of 25 years in prison — 150 months for each count, said a news release from County Attorney Kathryn Keena. Bond, 17 at the time of the crash, was tried under extended juvenile jurisdiction. Prosecutors’ attempt to try him as an adult was rejected by the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
Bond’s sister, 20-year-old Camille Dennis-Bond, was convicted by a Dakota County jury last month of two counts of third-degree murder, two counts of criminal vehicular homicide, one count of criminal vehicular operation resulting in great bodily harm and one count of careless driving. Her sentencing hearing is March 24.
The siblings were racing eastbound on April 4, 2021, when Leon Bond’s car T-boned a Honda CR-V turning left onto Newton Avenue in Burnsville. The Honda’s two occupants were killed.
Leon Bond’s Chrysler 200 was traveling at 93 to 100 mph at impact and had reached a speed of 114 mph five seconds before, authorities said.
Dennis-Bond’s Chevy Malibu, traveling in the left lane slightly behind her brother, just missed also striking the Honda, authorities said.
A witness said the Honda “basically turned into powder and split in half” when struck, authorities reported. Another said the two drag-racing cars were going a “bizarre” speed.
“This witness believed they were ‘racing,’ or that it may have been ‘road rage,’ ” Keena said in an earlier news release.
The siblings traveled at speeds of 41 to 64 mph over the posted speed limit, authorities said.
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