A 22-year-old Saint Paul woman faces two counts of criminal vehicular homicide after investigators say she struck and killed a pedestrian in Northeast Minneapolis, fled the scene and then tried to hide the vehicle at an auto shop.
The criminal complaint, filed Monday in Hennepin County District Court, lays out a detailed investigation built on surveillance footage, cell tower data and statements from two women who were in the car at the time of the collision.
Gabryella Marie Liebgott is charged with criminal vehicular homicide for leaving the scene of a fatal collision and criminal vehicular homicide for operating a motor vehicle in a grossly negligent manner. She was arrested April 3 and is being held in the Hennepin County Jail on $150,000 bail. Her first court appearance was scheduled for this afternoon.
The victim, Seham Hassen, 22, was a student at the University of St. Thomas.
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According to the criminal complaint, Minneapolis Emergency Dispatch received a 911 call around 3:07 a.m. Sunday, March 22, reporting a hit and run on the 1600 block of Marshall Street Northeast. Officers arrived to find Hassen lying in the street with critical injuries. Friends and bystanders told police a speeding vehicle struck her as she was preparing to cross the street. Hassen was transported to Hennepin Healthcare, where she died.
The force of the collision tore remnants of her clothing from her body and scattered them across the road. The entire driver’s side mirror of the striking vehicle was recovered in the roadway along with debris from the car.
Investigators obtained video from a parked Tesla that captured the collision. The footage showed Hassen and two other women exit a white vehicle parked on the west side of Marshall Street Northeast shortly after 3 a.m. The driver of the white car crossed the street while Hassen and another woman, both wearing white dresses, stood near the fog line.
The second woman crossed quickly, but Hassen appeared to turn away from the road as the suspect vehicle entered the frame, veering toward the shoulder. Hassen tried to get out of the path of the oncoming car but didn’t have time. The vehicle struck her and then swerved back into the driving lane. The impact threw Hassen’s body onto the windshield before she appeared to fall beneath the moving car. A large plume of smoke rose as the vehicle accelerated and sped away southbound on Marshall Street Northeast.
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Investigators used camera systems across Minneapolis and Saint Paul to trace the vehicle’s path but couldn’t positively identify it. A description and photos were sent to news stations and a public media release went out across the metro.
The break came March 30 when the Washington County Sheriff’s Office called to report a vehicle matching the description had been found at an auto shop that specializes in vinyl exterior wraps. The damage was consistent with the collision — the driver’s side headlight was damaged, the lens cover was missing, the hood showed damage on the driver’s side and the mirror was gone.
The plate came back to a 2005 Infiniti G35 sedan registered to a Saint Paul address. The vehicle was towed to the Minneapolis Police Forensic Garage, where investigators collected blood swabs from the exterior and recovered white fabric fibers consistent with Hassen’s dress.
The shop owner told police he received a call March 23 from someone wanting a vinyl wrap and asking to store the vehicle at the shop. He was told the car was damaged but the customer was ordering parts to repair it later. The shop owner said this struck him as unusual since repairs are typically done before wrapping. A woman named “Gabby” dropped the car off between March 24 and 25, left her phone number and never called back. The shop owner provided surveillance images showing her driving the vehicle to the shop and handing over the keys.
Investigators identified ”Gabby” as Liebgott. She is related to the registered owner of the Infiniti and shares the same address. The phone number she gave the shop owner matched cell tower data retrieved along the suspect vehicle’s path the night of the hit and run.
From there, investigators retraced Liebgott’s movements. The Infiniti was parked near the Minneapolis VFW on the 2900 block of Lyndale Avenue South between 1:23 and 2:25 a.m. Liebgott swiped her ID to enter the VFW at 1:08 a.m. and was captured on surveillance entering with two other women. She was seen holding a key chain inside the bar. The three left together at 1:56 a.m.
Around 2:03 a.m., Liebgott drove the Infiniti to the front of the VFW, stood up through the open sunroof and then parked across the street. She got back behind the wheel at 2:25 a.m. and pulled away. Camera footage captured the Infiniti speeding recklessly down Lyndale Avenue and swerving into oncoming traffic. Cameras tracked the car through North Minneapolis, then southbound on Marshall Street Northeast, where it struck Hassen. The vehicle fled down Hennepin Avenue to Highway 280 and into Saint Paul before it was lost.
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Both women who were with Liebgott that night confirmed they were in the car during the collision. Both said everyone had been drinking and that Liebgott was the only one driving. One woman told investigators she was drunk in the back seat and slipping in and out of sleep when a powerful impact startled her awake. She looked through the rear window, saw people rushing into the road and asked Liebgott if she had hit something.
Liebgott admitted she did and said her mirror was gone but kept driving. The other woman, sitting in the front seat, said she recalled striking something hard and immediately saw white fabric draped across the windshield. She said Liebgott considered stopping but then accelerated and drove to Saint Paul. Both women said they’d spoken with Liebgott since the collision and that Liebgott knew she struck a person. Both said multiple people encouraged her to turn herself in.
Liebgott didn’t turn herself in. She was arrested April 3 and booked into the Hennepin County Jail. She declined to provide a statement.
Court records show Liebgott has prior convictions for speeding, driving without a Minnesota driver’s license and possession of open intoxicants in a motor vehicle. She was also convicted of falsely reporting a crime in Ramsey County in 2023.
Each count of criminal vehicular homicide carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
A GoFundMe has been set up to support Seham Hassen’s family
