A Hanska woman is charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide after a late-night crash in Brown County killed two people on Aug. 29, according to a criminal complaint.
Shianne Lee Escobar, 28, faces two felony counts of criminal vehicular homicide, each alleging she caused a death while driving negligently under the influence of alcohol. The complaint was filed Aug. 31 in Brown County District Court and issued with a warrant for her arrest, with bail set at $75,000.
According to the complaint, a Brown County deputy was sent at about 12:14 a.m. on Aug. 29 to an iPhone crash-detection alert on County Road 13, just north of County Road 22. He found a white Chevrolet Silverado on one shoulder of the road and a silver Oldsmobile on the other, both heavily damaged. The two people in the Oldsmobile were trapped inside and had no pulse.
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Escobar, who was standing outside the Oldsmobile, told the deputy she had been driving the pickup alone and was on her way home to Hanska from a bar in New Ulm, the complaint says. She was unsure what had happened. Asked how much she had been drinking, she said that was a question for her lawyer.
The deputy noted her speech was badly slurred. She later complained of pain in her chest, neck and spine, became unresponsive as an ambulance arrived and was taken to New Ulm Medical Center. Ambulance staff reported an overwhelming odor of alcohol, according to the complaint.
A judge approved a search warrant, and two tubes of her blood were drawn at about 2:15 a.m. A witness later told the deputy that Escobar had been heavily intoxicated before she left the bar.
Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a $20,000 fine or both, according to the complaint.
