A Bloomington man has been sent to prison after admitting he was behind the wheel in a head-on crash that killed his passenger. Dior Cortez Wheeler, 32, was sentenced June 18 in Hennepin County District Court for the April 27, 2025 collision. The woman who died was identified as 29-year-old Sydney Lea Brown of Virginia on Minnesota’s Iron Range.
The judge imposed an approximately five-year prison term, but with credit for time already served, Wheeler is expected to spend about 2¾ years in prison and the rest on supervised release, according to the Star Tribune. The sentence followed Wheeler’s guilty plea to criminal vehicular homicide, resolving the case before it could go to trial, prosecutors said.
Bloomington police were called around 11:20 p.m. on April 27 and arrived to find a Ford Fusion on fire and a Toyota Sienna minivan with airbags deployed near E. 86th Street and Old Cedar Avenue South. A passenger from the minivan and a nearby bicyclist told investigators they saw the car hit a curb and then veer into oncoming traffic before the head-on crash. Brown was taken to a hospital and was pronounced dead about 45 minutes later, according to KSTP.
Wheeler first told officers that Brown had been driving and that the two had met through a dating app. Investigators said forensic evidence told a different story: DNA taken from the driver-side airbag matched Wheeler, and his chest injuries lined up with wearing the driver-side seat belt. A blood sample taken soon after the crash showed a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.191%, and THC was also detected, according to court records cited by the Star Tribune.
Court documents also outline Wheeler’s driving record, which included one prior drunken-driving conviction, four convictions for driving while his license was revoked and two careless-driving convictions. Authorities said his license was revoked at the time of the crash, according to KSTP.
Legal context
Under Minnesota law, criminal vehicular homicide is a felony that can carry up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000, with actual sentences shaped by a defendant’s criminal history and any plea agreement. The offense and potential penalties are detailed in the state’s criminal code in the Minnesota statutes.
The case underscores how quickly impaired driving can turn deadly and how long the legal fallout can linger after a single night’s decisions. With Wheeler sentenced, authorities say the criminal case is largely finished unless he pursues post-conviction challenges down the road.
