Minnesota Woman Sentenced to 20 Years for Deadly Hit-and-Run

Maplewood, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Minnesota woman with a lengthy criminal past has been sentenced for killing one woman and injuring another by intentionally striking them with her vehicle last summer.

The criminal complaint against 35-year-old Ashley Renee Couch says she was arrested last August following the deadly hit and run in Maplewood. The St. Paul woman was accused of being behind the wheel of a vehicle that struck and killed 23-year-old Zakirrah Anderson of Minneapolis. The court document says a 22-year-old St. Paul woman was also struck by the vehicle and suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

According to the criminal complaint, Maplewood police responded on the night of August 14 to a report that a pedestrian had been struck by a vehicle. They found Anderson, suffering from "catastrophic injuries to her body, that appeared to match up with being dragged under a vehicle for an extended distance." She was later pronounced dead at Regions Hospital.

The court document says a witness to the deadly incident recorded video of it on their cell phone and indicated that she and the two victims were at the location to fight another group of girls over an earlier altercation during which gunshots were fired. The complaint notes that St. Paul police responded earlier in the day to a report of shots being fired and located spent shell casings at the scene.

Couch was charged with second-degree murder and second-degree assault. In January, she entered guilty pleas to both charges and was sentenced Monday to a total of 243 months in prison with credit for the 243 days she had already spent in jail.

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Minnesota court records show that Couch has a criminal history dating back to 2008 that includes numerous felony convictions that include second-degree assault, terroristic threats, fourth-degree assault on a correctional officer, drive-by shooting, and a burglary-related crime.