A 32-year-old chronic auto thief has pleaded guilty to speeding through a stop sign in a stolen car and killing another motorist at a St. Paul intersection.
Xia Her-Xiong, of Minneapolis, admitted in Ramsey County District Court on Friday to criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular operation in connection with the death on Jan. 7 of Alison J. Annen, 60, of St. Paul, at Minnehaha Avenue and Atlantic Street.
The plea deal calls for Her-Xiong to receive a sentence of 9 1⁄4 years. With credit for time in jail since his arrest, he will serve slightly more than six years in prison and the balance on supervised release.
Sentencing is scheduled for March 11, when the prosecution said it will dismiss an unrelated burglary case from 2020.
Her-Xiong has a long record of run-ins with the law, having been convicted of stealing a vehicle seven times among other convictions for selling and possessing drugs.
Prosecutors say police saw a car reported stolen and gave pursuit. The officer saw the car "blow through a stop sign" several blocks ahead, where it hit a Chrysler PT Cruiser broadside, the charges read.
Her-Xiong and a male passenger ran, while two women who had been in the car at the time of the crash remained behind.
The PT Cruiser's driver, Annen, and another woman were pinned in the wreckage. Emergency responders declared Annen dead at the scene. Annen's 59-year-old passenger survived her injuries.
The man in the car told police that Her-Xiong was drunk and started speeding after seeing the squad car, the charges noted.
