Charge: Minnesota driver admits watching TikTok videos when she struck and killed pedestrian

A driver said she was watching TikTok videos when she struck and killed a pedestrian in the middle of the day, according to a criminal complaint.

Mariska Kay Nunn, 20, is charged with criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the crash on Sept. 3 on Randolph Road in Detroit Lakes that killed Dean Chadbourne, 81, of Detroit Lakes.

Nunn, of Detroit Lakes, was charged by summons and is due in court on Feb. 20 for her first appearance.

Her attorney, Luke Heck, said Friday that “what happened was a tragic accident. At this time, we are reviewing the discovery we have received from the state of Minnesota and intend on zealously defending Ms. Nunn against the allegations.”

According to the complaint:

A police investigator was sent about 12:15 p.m. to the scene of the crash and saw Chadbourne on the pavement. A car with windshield and driver’s side mirror damage was parked nearby.

Chadbourne was taken away by ambulance and died about 45 minutes later at the Detroit Lakes Airport.

Nunn told an officer at the scene that she was heading west on Randolph and did not see Chadbourne in the road.

She acknowledged that “her phone was on her lap [and] she had been viewing a TikTok video when the accident happened,” the complaint read.

A law enforcement analysis of Nunn’s phone revealed that she watched five TikTok videos beginning shortly before 12:09 p.m. and started the last one at 12:14:05 p.m. She called 911 at 12:15 p.m. to report the crash.