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Woman, children killed in Maple Grove crash identified

The 25-year-old woman and young children were identified Monday by the medical examiner's office.

MAPLE GROVE, Minn. — The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office has identified a woman and two children killed in a Saturday morning crash in Maple Grove.

According to a release from the Maple Grove Police Department, the single-vehicle crash happened shortly before 7 a.m. near the intersection of Dunkirk Lane and Lawndale Lane, just south of Weaver Lake Community Park.

Police say the occupants of the compact size sedan were a 25-year-old female driver, a 23-year-old man, a 2-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl. 

A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family pay for memorial expenses.

While the woman was declared dead at the scene, all three remaining occupants were rushed to the hospital. Only the 23-year-old man survived the crash, with what police say "appear to be non-life-threatening injuries."

According to the autopsy reports, the victims were Kiara Tashay Jones, 25; Joshua Vishnu Kendrick, 2; and Lily My'Joy Kendrick, 3.

The Maple Grove Police Department says it is continuing to investigate the crash. High speed is believed to have been a contributing factor, and preliminary findings have not determined whether or not the occupants were wearing their seatbelts or child restraints. 

Residents who live in the usually quiet neighborhood, say they were stunned something like this would happen so close to home.

"I was just out on my morning walk and saw the firetrucks and everything had the roads closed off," Linda said.

Lori Itskovich lives a few streets down from where the crash happened and reflected on what could've happened as the car crossed the median and the other side of the road.

"You never know, if I would be walking here passing the street, I could be gone. Scary," Itskovich said.

Julie Murdeshwar, who lives in the area where the crash happened, says speeding is not uncommon along the 45-mile-per-hour road.

“Like 50, sure. I mean, I’m sure I’ve done that, but that kind of speed I’ve never seen," Murdeshwar said. "I’ve never seen speeds like that here.”

With speeding being a problem in the area, residents are calling on the city to step in.

“I’m kind of hoping the City of Maple Grove lowers our speed limits at some point on city streets," Linda said.

“They should put the speed enforcement there too; they should have cameras," Itskovich said.

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