A jury found Dylan Simmons guilty Thursday of the unintentional killing of 17-year-old Darisha Bailey Vath, whom he hit with his car in a Forest Lake park last year after an argument between two groups of people who knew each other.
Jurors concluded that Simmons, 21, of North Branch, did not intend to kill her and acquitted him of second-degree intentional homicide. He was convicted of the remaining charges: second-degree unintentional murder, vehicular homicide and three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon.
Simmons showed no emotion or reaction when the verdict was read or when jurors were questioned.
The teen’s family and friends hugged each other outside a third-floor courtroom.
“After almost a year and a half, she is finally getting justice,” said her mother, Sareth Vath. “I feel like we can now start grieving properly because we haven’t been able to do that over the last year and a half.”
When asked to comment on the jury acquitting Simmons of intentional murder, she said, “He still killed her, so . . .”
The jury, which consisted of eleven men and one woman, deliberated for four hours on Wednesday and an hour and a half on Thursday.
Washington County District Court Judge Siv Mjanger set Simmons’ sentencing hearing for March 20. Prosecutors plan to seek an aggravated upward sentencing.
According to prosecutors, a conflict had been brewing for about two years between Simmons’ group of friends and Vath’s group of friends — all former or current students at Forest Lake Area High School.
Simmons’ attorneys argued during the trial, which began Dec. 11, that he was confronted by an “angry crowd” and acted in self-defense when he drove his Mazda 3 toward Vath, her brother and others from the opposing party around 11 a.m. drove. :20 a.m. July 16, 2023, at Lakeside Memorial Park in downtown Forest Lake.
Witnesses stated that Simmons deliberately drove toward them three times. He narrowly missed hitting people the first time, then spun around the parking lot and collided with the back of a car.
Simmons then reversed his Mazda and again drove directly toward several people who were near another car, hitting Vath and running over her with all four tires. She died on the spot.
Simmons later told a Forest Lake police investigator during questioning that he thought he had hit a “speed bump.”
Vath, who would have been a high school student, dreamed of becoming a veterinarian.
“I miss her,” her brother, Devon Bailey Vath, 20, of Stacy, said after the sentencing. “I love my sister. My beautiful sister.”
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