A Becker man is now facing a felony charge tied to a deadly eastbound Interstate 94 crash that started with a deer strike and ended with a South Haven woman losing her life in October 2024. After her SUV hit a deer and came to a stop in the center lane, it was rear-ended. The driver, 60-year-old Julie Kay Terwey, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Charges and allegations
Jordan Thomas Land, 32, of Becker, has been charged with one felony count of criminal vehicular homicide, accused of operating his Mazda in a grossly negligent manner before striking the stopped Ford Escape. Nearly two years after the Oct. 27, 2024, crash, prosecutors allege Land rear-ended the vehicle and that the collision killed Terwey, according to FOX 9. The complaint notes the charge was filed by summons, and Land is scheduled to make his first court appearance in August.
What investigators say
State Patrol reconstruction work estimated Land’s speed between 70 and 85 miles per hour and found no braking activity until about 0.133 seconds before impact, according to investigators. Forensic examiners also reported repeated activity on Land’s phone, including TikTok, Safari and Facebook, and said the phone was connected to the vehicle by Bluetooth while no podcast app was in use. Traffic camera footage reviewed in the investigation places the crash at about 5:31 a.m., according to KNSI.
Defendant’s account
When troopers confronted Land with the cell-phone data, he responded, “One second I was driving and one second there was a car stopped in front of me,” according to FOX 9. He later told officers he may have been on his phone around the time of the crash and said he could not explain why the collision happened. Prosecutors say the digital timeline and the reconstruction are central pieces of the case against him.
Case status and penalties
According to KNSI, Land is charged in Hennepin County District Court with one felony count alleging grossly negligent operation that caused a death. Under Minnesota law, criminal vehicular homicide can carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $20,000. The charges are allegations; Land is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Why this matters
Terwey’s death began with a common Minnesota hazard: a deer-vehicle collision, the kind that the University of Minnesota’s Center for Transportation Studies says happens by the thousands across the state and peaks in the fall. Phone distraction, especially visual-manual tasks such as scrolling social media apps, has been linked to a significantly higher crash risk, according to analysis by the Governors Highway Safety Association. The case highlights how a routine wildlife strike can turn fatal on a busy interstate when high speed and possible distraction come together, and it now falls to the court to weigh the forensic timeline against the driver’s account.
