ST PAUL, Minn. — A 31-year-old woman has been charged with murder after she allegedly struck a man with a vehicle early Tuesday morning in St. Paul.
Landis Rachel Hill was charged Wednesday with one count of second-degree murder and one count of criminal vehicular homicide in the death of 21-year-old Al Rakip J. Zaidi of St. Paul. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner determined Zaidi's death was caused by head trauma due to motor vehicle-pedestrian impact. Another person was initially arrested at the same time as Hill, but has not been charged.
According to the complaint, officers responded to a call from Hill at the St. Paul Police Department lobby around 3 a.m. She told authorities she and another person were sleeping in the backseat of a 2001 Ford Expedition they had been living in near Eighth and Olive Streets in St. Paul, when a man opened the driver's side door and stole a cell phone and cash before fleeing on foot.
That's when Hill said the other person in the vehicle ran after the man with a baseball bat as she followed behind in the Expedition, eventually striking him. Hill allegedly told police the crash happened near the northbound entrance ramp to Interstate 35E by Pine Street.
The complaint says officers went to check the area, but did not find anything. Hill and the other individual were not detained at that time.
A short time later, the complaint states officers responded to a report of a body in the street. They arrived at the intersection of 10th Street East and Broadway Street around 4:20 a.m. and found a man — later determined to be Zaidi — unresponsive with severe head trauma.
Officers performed life-saving efforts on Zaidi until medics arrived. Medics subsequently pronounced him dead at the scene.
The complaint states Hill and the other individual returned to the police station to speak to officers around 5 p.m. While Hill was interrogated, she allegedly told investigators she hit Zaidi with the Expedition going approximately 40 to 50 mph. According to court documents, she told investigators that she was "tired of people taking her stuff," and that she had been robbed in the past. The complaint says Hill told police she was upset at the time of the incident, but the other individual convinced her to report what happened to the police.
Prosecutors say that person agreed to speak with officers and subsequently confirmed Hill's series of actions in the Expedition. They allegedly told investigators that after Hill struck Zaidi, they got into the vehicle with her and left the area. The complaint says they were also shown a photo of Zaidi, and confirmed he was the man who they confronted.
The Ramsey County Attorney's Office told KARE 11 the other individual was not charged because there was not "sufficient evidence to prove that they aided and abetted Hill in her actions."
Hill remains in custody at the Ramsey County Jail on a $500,000 bond. Her first court appearance is scheduled for Thursday at 9:30 a.m.
This is the 31st homicide in St. Paul this year.
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