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Crash investigation continues as injuries heal
Published 10:51am Monday, November 14, 2011
Neither driver was under the influence of alcohol in the Oct. 9 accident that killed 15-year-old Dalton teen Skylah Oksness, the Minnesota State Patrol reported.
The state patrol is still investigating the two-car broadside crash, which occurred around 2:30 a.m. on State Highway 210 near Wall Lake.
One detail still under investigation is whether or not Aimee Magnusson, the 18-year-old driver of one of the vehicles, ran a stop sign when she drove north onto 210 from County Highway 33. When Magnusson, of Fergus Falls, drove onto 210, her car collided with a car driven by Sasha Parker, 24, of Battle Lake.
It is not known at this time if any criminal charges will be filed. The county attorney’s office will make that decision once it receives the full accident report from the State Patrol. Sgt. Rod Eischens said the report might not be completed until the end of the year or even longer than that, as the State Patrol is also investigating several other recent serious accidents.
The people injured in the accident continue to recover. Kaylee Holte, the 18-year-old woman who was critically injured in Magnusson’s car, suffered head trauma, broken ribs, and injuries to her lungs and spleen, according to the CaringBridge website updated by her family members. She is currently undergoing physical and sensory therapies, and her brain pressure is still being monitored. She can only make limited movements at this time and has not spoken.
Heath Parker, husband of Sasha Parker, driver of the second vehicle, and a passenger in her car, is still recovering from the traumatic brain injury he suffered in the accident. He has been transferred from Fargo to the Battle Lake Care Center, and he has limited talking and walking ability, according to the CaringBridge site updated by Sasha.
“He is awake and comprehending some, yet still very confused and not himself,” Sasha wrote Friday on the site. “Heath is still in what you might call a comatose state, however not (in) a coma.”
Magnusson was also critically injured in the crash, but she was discharged from the hospital on Oct. 28. Her brain, neck and rib injuries are still recovering, but she wrote a personal message on her CaringBridge site earlier this month thanking people for their prayers and support.
“You guys have pulled me through this, and while I know it’s still going to be a long journey, I can just take it one day at a time and strive to make myself a better person,” she wrote in part.
Casey Love, 27, and Jessie Scheuble, 26, both of Battle Lake, and a 14-year-old girl received non-life threatening injuries in the accident. A benefit for Love and Scheuble was held Saturday.
