A Hennepin County judge sentenced the drunk driver who struck and killed a mother from Champlin to 41 months in prison.
Christopher Mark Beussman, 34, of Edina was legally drunk when he ran a red light and struck Heather Solberg as she was crossing the intersection of Highway 169 and Hayden Lake Road in Champlin last June.
Beussman and a 23-year-old woman in the car sped off, but was captured minutes. A witness was able to get their license plate number and give to a 911 dispatcher. Beussman was charged with three counts of vehicular homicide.
According to the criminal complaint, Beussman told police he did not stop after hitting Solberg because he was "scared and intoxicated." He admitted to police that he was driving the vehicle that struck Solberg even though when police pulled the vehicle over, the 23-year-old woman was behind the wheel. Both Beussman and the woman in the car failed sobriety tests.
Solberg leaves behind two children. Her family was in the courtroom Monday to hear the vedict.
"I don't agree. I don't think he has enough time," says Solberg's daughter, Violet. "He killed someone important."
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