An Eagan man who admitted he hit a woman in a crosswalk and drove away will not serve prison time. On Thursday, a Dakota County judge sentenced Rolando O. Miranda Martinez, 59, to six months in jail and three years of probation after he pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of a collision that killed 40‑year‑old Leslie Anne Youngberg earlier this year. The judge stayed a one‑year prison term and credited Miranda Martinez with time he had already served.
According to the Star Tribune, Judge Luis Morales imposed a 180 day jail sentence along with three years of probation and credited Miranda Martinez with 97 days already served. The crash occurred around 2 a.m. on March 7 at the intersection of Cliff Road and Nicols Road in Eagan, where officers found Youngberg unconscious. She was later pronounced dead.
Police accounts say debris left at the scene and surveillance video helped investigators zero in on a white Honda CR‑V with heavy front‑end damage. Officers watched as Miranda Martinez retrieved a backpack from the damaged vehicle and got into a rideshare that deputies quickly stopped, according to KSTP. While in a squad car, he reportedly told officers, "One person in the road... I forgot to tell them... It's a lady," and said he was coming home from a Minneapolis bar but denied drinking, the station reported.
Driver's Record In Court Files
Court records show Miranda Martinez has three drunken‑driving convictions dating back to 2012, including a January 2023 crash in Richfield in which an officer measured his blood‑alcohol level at 0.118 percent. He was sentenced in May 2023 to 30 days in jail and three years of supervised probation, and the court released him from that probation a year early in May 2025, according to the Star Tribune.
Family Response And Fundraiser
Friends launched an online fundraiser describing Youngberg as a devoted single parent to a 16‑year‑old son who worked with small children at a local daycare. The GoFundMe and friends' accounts highlighted in local coverage underscore the loss felt by her family and neighbors, KSTP reports.
Legal Context
Miranda Martinez pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death, a felony tied to Minnesota's stopping and reporting rules for drivers. The key provisions include Minn. Stat. 169.09, which requires drivers to remain at the scene and provide information, and Minn. Stat. 609.2112, the criminal vehicular homicide statute that sets out when more serious charges can apply.
Defense filings focused on aspects of the crash investigation as part of their plea and sentencing arguments, and the judge factored in Miranda Martinez's time already served when deciding on the 180 day term. The outcome has reopened debate in the Twin Cities over how courts weigh prior impaired‑driving records against the consequences of deadly crashes.
