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  • February 14, 2025
Gustaaf Adolf women’s hockey player convicted for fatal accident

Gustaaf Adolf women’s hockey player convicted for fatal accident

A Gustavus Adolphus College hockey player was placed on probation for a year Monday for causing a two-vehicle crash that killed her 19-year-old passenger and teammate in west-central Minnesota last year.

Gianna Kate Gasparini, 20, of Lakeville, pleaded guilty Monday in Chippewa County District Court to a gross misdemeanor count of reckless driving in connection with the crash that killed Jori Lynn Jones of Little Canada. Gasparini was sentenced to a deferred adjudication, meaning that if she successfully completes her probation, the charges will be dismissed and the conviction will not appear on her record.

Gasparini’s attorney, Eric Nelson, did not return a call seeking comment Monday.

According to the criminal complaint filed in August, an accident reconstruction report from the Minnesota State Patrol indicates the collision was caused by Gasparini speeding in her Chevrolet Equinox sport-utility vehicle and running a four-way stop sign at the intersection of Minnesota Highways 40 and 29 in Grace Township, 25 miles west of Willmar, about 12:40 p.m., August 20, 2023.

Jones was pronounced dead an hour later at Montevideo Hospital, where Gasparini and two other teammates and passengers — Kayla Marie Bluhm, of Chisago City, and Lily Kay Mortenson, of Champlin — were also taken with injuries not considered life-threatening. The teammates returned to St. Peter from a weekend trip to Aberdeen, SD

The other driver, Brandi Kay Rasmussen, 28, of Benson, Minnesota, was also hospitalized with minor injuries. She had no passengers in her vehicle.

Two search warrant affidavits filed four days after the crash said evidence at the scene and information from witnesses identified the driver of the Equinox “I couldn’t stop at the intersection.”

‘I tried to hit the brakes’

According to the complaint, Rasmussen told the State Patrol at the scene of the accident that she looked both ways after stopping her Dodge minivan at the intersection.

“I didn’t see anything and then I went and all of a sudden I turned around and turned around and turned around,” Rasmussen told a soldier. according to the complaint.

A witness told the State Patrol that the minivan had stopped at the intersection and was continuing south on Minnesota 29 when the collision occurred. The SUV was traveling east on Minnesota 40 and did not stop and appeared to be traveling at least 55 miles per hour, according to the witness.

The speed limit in the area is 60 km/h.

The reconstruction of the accident showed that Gasparini was traveling at a speed of 125 km/h prior to the crash and hit the minibus at a speed of 90 to 100 km/h.

In an interview at the hospital, Gasparini told an investigator that she was driving about 60 miles per hour and didn’t notice it was a four-way intersection “until much too late.” She said Mortenson, her front seat passenger, told her there was a stop sign and she “panicked and tried to hit the brakes.”

Gasparini had no alcohol in her system and was not distracted by her cell phone at the time of the crash, the complaint said. She told the investigator that she had not taken her medication for ADHD that morning, which she said helps her concentrate better.

Hockey community mourns

Jones had been a freshman goalie on the Gustavus team that played the the first NCAA Division III national championship from a private university five months earlier. She had played youth and high school hockey in Roseville.