Background: The intersection of Randolph Road and Highland Drive in Detroit Lakes, Minn. (Google Maps). Inset left: Mariska Nunn (Becker County Jail). Inset right: Dean Chadbourne (West-Kjos Funeral Home).
A Minnesota woman was allegedly scrolling through TikTok when the car she was driving hit a retired grandfather.
Mariska Nunn, 20, was charged with felony criminal vehicular homicide months after the Sept. 3, 2024, incident and booked into the Becker County Jail on Jan. 15, according to the Becker County Sheriff’s Office. According to court records obtained by DL-Online, a local news outlet, Nunn’s cellphone data revealed that she was using the TikTok app in the minutes before her car allegedly struck Dean Chadbourne, 81, who was walking on the side of the road.
According to the court records, Nunn was driving on Randolph Road in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, at around noon on the afternoon of Sept. 3, 2024, on her way from her boyfriend’s house. She told police at the time that she did not see Chadbourne, who was walking on the side of the road. She initially told police that her phone was in her lap when she allegedly hit Chadbourne. Later on, she admitted that she was actually watching a TikTok video.
Chadbourne was transported by ambulance from the scene and died 45 minutes later.
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Included in the criminal complaint was a rundown of cellphone data in the minutes leading up to the moment that Nunn’s car made impact with Chadbourne. According to the report, Nunn was using the TikTok app that afternoon at 12:08:40 p.m., and then again at 12:10:50, 12:12:40, 12:12:52, and 12:14:05. She called 911 to report the crash at 12:15 p.m.
Law&Crime reached out to the Becker County Sheriff’s Office, which confirmed that Nunn had been released from custody on Jan. 15 after being booked and fingerprinted. Her next court date is scheduled for Feb. 20.
Chadbourne’s obituary said that the Minnesota native was survived by a sister, son, and grandson. He was described as both a former middle school teacher and business owner who “never slowed down.”
