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Woman pleads guilty, gets 4 years for death of Abigail Anderson
Four members of the Anderson family were in court Friday to confront Dotray with emotional victim impact statements about the loss of Abigail.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Editor’s note: The video above first aired on KARE 11 in August of 2021.
The southern Minnesota woman accused of striking and killing a 29-year-old nurse while driving impaired struck a deal with prosecutors Thursday, pleading guilty to criminal vehicular homicide. She went on to face a judge for sentencing Friday morning.
According to the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, Melinda Dotray was sentenced to 48 months in prison with 13 days credit for time already served. Dotray was charged with multiple crimes following the death of Abigail Anderson, but with her guilty plea prosecutors agreed to drop four of five original charges.
Anderson was the little sister of All-American runner Gabe Grunewald, who died in 2019 following a battle with cancer.
Four members of the Anderson family were in court Friday to confront Dotray with emotional victim impact statements about the loss of Abigail.
In the original criminal complaint, prosecutors said Dotray was traveling between 62 and 64 mph in a 40 mph zone when she struck Anderson near the intersection of Cleveland and Larpenteur Avenues in Falcon Heights back on Aug. 14, 2021.
Early results from the investigation also indicted Dotray’s pick-up truck struck a parked vehicle on the side of the road before Anderson was hit as she walked in the grass nearby. Investigators also said they did not see evidence of braking before the crash, and that later lab results showed Dotray had amphetamine, methamphetamine and fentanyl in her blood at the time.
After Abigail’s death and Dotray’s initial arrest, Anderson family attorney Phillip Seiff released a statement saying the family was looking to bring “justice and accountability” to the case.
“Abby’s family seeks justice and accountability so that no other family ever has to endure the pain and suffering they have experienced and will experience forever,” the statement read.
Anderson worked as a nurse at Children’s Minnesota and was also a prominent runner in the track & field/cross country community. Like her sister Gabe, Abigail was one of Minnesota’s top high school runners and walked on at the University of Minnesota.
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Larry Raasch volunteered at the department for 25 years.
WEST ST PAUL, Minn. — The West St. Paul Police Department has lost one of its most decorated servants.
Larry Raasch volunteered as a reserve officer for 25 years, logging more than 4,000 hours.
“He really cared about this department and this community,” said West St. Paul Police Chief Brian Sturgeon.
Raasch volunteered at least eight hours a week at the West St. Paul Police station. Before he started helping out there, he was a reserve for the St. Paul Police Department. In total, he’s spent more than 50 years volunteering at police departments.
“He loved this community that’s what it was, he loved the community, he loved the department, he loved the city, he loved his neighbors, he loved the business owners in town, and he just wanted to give back. That’s why he was doing what’s he doing,” Sturgeon said.
Raasch’s daughter Lisa McDermott said her father lived to serve the community. He would drive people around town if they needed a ride and would help anyone who needed it. His life has been dedicated to service. She said her father is a Vietnam Veteran. He was stationed in Munich, Germany as a medic.
Captain of the reserves Mike Whebbe said he was dedicated to serving his community. He’s worked alongside Raasch for decades.
Raasch was one of the police department’s 15 reserves. Sturgeon said they assist sworn officers and departments, attend community events, help with prisoner transport, and traffic control. Sturgeon said the reserves help the department immensely and have save them a lot of money.
“Over the course of the 25 years, it’s close to $1 million,” he said.
Sturgeon said two years, he received the President’s Volunteer Service Lifetime Achievement award.
“He dedicated over 4,000 hours. I’m sure it was a lot more than that,” Sturgeon said.
He said Raasch was one of the oldest reserves, his “meticulous” nature earned him a spot helping out in the property room as a volunteer evidence tech.
“His age didn’t keep him down though. He was always available to us whenever we needed it. We were very appreciative of his dedication to this community,” he said. “He just wanted to be a part of this organization. He wanted to be a part of this city and being a reserve was one way he could be a part of this organization and this community.”
Sturgeon said he’ll miss hearing Raasch say “hi, good morning, good afternoon, how are you doing,” when he would walk into the department. He said no one will ever be able to fill his shoes.
“Larry was a character, he was a one-of-a-kind,” Sturgeon said. “We’ve all learned a lot from him, especially the reserves. I mean like I said he coached and mentored the younger reserves.”
He said it’s going to be hard without him. Sturgeon said Raasch was the embodiment of an outstanding community member, who made West St. Paul a safer and brighter place.
“He’s one of a kind that’s for sure and he’s going to be greatly missed,” Sturgeon said.
Larry Raasch volunteered at the department for 25 years.
WEST ST PAUL, Minn. — The West St. Paul Police Department has lost one of its most decorated servants.
Larry Raasch volunteered as a reserve officer for 25 years, logging more than 4,000 hours.
“He really cared about this department and this community,” said West St. Paul Police Chief Brian Sturgeon.
Raasch volunteered at least eight hours a week at the West St. Paul Police station. Before he started helping out there, he was a reserve for the St. Paul Police Department. In total, he’s spent more than 50 years volunteering at police departments.
“He loved this community that’s what it was, he loved the community, he loved the department, he loved the city, he loved his neighbors, he loved the business owners in town, and he just wanted to give back. That’s why he was doing what’s he doing,” Sturgeon said.
Raasch’s daughter Lisa McDermott said her father lived to serve the community. He would drive people around town if they needed a ride and would help anyone who needed it. His life has been dedicated to service. She said her father is a Vietnam Veteran. He was stationed in Munich, Germany as a medic.
Captain of the reserves Mike Whebbe said he was dedicated to serving his community. He’s worked alongside Raasch for decades.
Raasch was one of the police department’s 15 reserves. Sturgeon said they assist sworn officers and departments, attend community events, help with prisoner transport, and traffic control. Sturgeon said the reserves help the department immensely and have save them a lot of money.
“Over the course of the 25 years, it’s close to $1 million,” he said.
Sturgeon said two years, he received the President’s Volunteer Service Lifetime Achievement award.
“He dedicated over 4,000 hours. I’m sure it was a lot more than that,” Sturgeon said.
He said Raasch was one of the oldest reserves, his “meticulous” nature earned him a spot helping out in the property room as a volunteer evidence tech.
“His age didn’t keep him down though. He was always available to us whenever we needed it. We were very appreciative of his dedication to this community,” he said. “He just wanted to be a part of this organization. He wanted to be a part of this city and being a reserve was one way he could be a part of this organization and this community.”
Sturgeon said he’ll miss hearing Raasch say “hi, good morning, good afternoon, how are you doing,” when he would walk into the department. He said no one will ever be able to fill his shoes.
“Larry was a character, he was a one-of-a-kind,” Sturgeon said. “We’ve all learned a lot from him, especially the reserves. I mean like I said he coached and mentored the younger reserves.”
He said it’s going to be hard without him. Sturgeon said Raasch was the embodiment of an outstanding community member, who made West St. Paul a safer and brighter place.
“He’s one of a kind that’s for sure and he’s going to be greatly missed,” Sturgeon said.
The three finalists are visiting the school district this week with a decision expected to be made on either Wednesday or Thursday night.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota’s second-largest school district will soon have a new superintendent.
Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) is hosting the three finalists this week.
Each day, a new candidate is visiting the district for a full day. On Monday, Dr. Rhoda Mhiripiri-Reed took part in school visits, virtual sessions and a public interview.
Mhiripiri-Reed has been the superintendent of Hopkins Public Schools since 2017, serving 6,900 students and more than 1,000 staff. She started her career as a teacher at SPPS.
Dr. Brenda Cassellius also started her career as an SPPS teacher. Cassellius will be visiting the district on Tuesday.
Cassellius previously served as superintendent of Boston Public Schools, serving 50,000 students and more than 10,000 staff. She also served eight years as the Minnesota State Commissioner of Education. Cassellius is currently the CEO of the nonprofit Fresh Energy.
On Wednesday, the final candidate is Dr. Stacie Stanley. She’s currently the superintendent of Edina Public Schools, serving 8,600 students and more than 1,300 staff. Stanley previously served as an associate superintendent at Eden Prairie Schools.
You can read all three full bios, here.
In the end of February, former SPPS Superintendent Dr. Joe Gothard was selected as the next leader of the Madison Metropolitan School District in Wisconsin. Dr. John Thein has been serving as interim superintendent during the search.
The SPPS Board of Education did a round of community engagement where they received more than 3,000 responses from the community on what they’re looking for in the next superintendent.
“It’s really not so much about what one individual board member is looking for. It’s going to be a really open and collaborative process by which all seven board members are trying to figure out how each of these candidates would approach trying to meet the concerns that were raised by the community whenever we did that engagement,” said Uriah Ward, school board vice chair.
Each finalist’s schedule this week includes visiting schools, three virtual “Meet the Candidate” sessions with staff, parents and guardians, and community partners. The day ends with a public interview at the SPPS administration building (360 S. Colborne St.) from 6-7:30 p.m.
All are welcome to attend or watch the livestream.
“We want people to remain part of the process until the very end. So please, if you are watching the sessions, if you are reading the materials, please fill out an impression form. Because we are reading them and we do take that really seriously,” Ward said.
This past summer, the school board approved more than $110 million in budget cuts for this school year. The cuts come after federal funds from the pandemic expired. While SPPS enrollment is slightly up this year, overall, in the past decade, it has shrunk.
“Whoever’s coming in is coming into what I think is a really amazing school district where we have a lot of really exciting things to offer. But it’s also a really difficult environment where districts across the country are dealing with declining enrollment, where they’re having to face what seem like an endless stream of budget cuts,” Ward said. “We want to make sure that we’re bringing someone in who is going to be able to handle what can be a difficult situation but also work with us into moving us in a positive direction where we can… hopefully continue to grow our district.”
After the final interview on Wednesday, the board will deliberate in a public meeting. If they cannot decide that night, they will continue conversations at Thursday’s regular school board meeting and announce the preferred candidate then.
The board will approve the new superintendent’s contract and start date in January.
You can learn more about the search process, here.
