photo by: Wyandotte County Detention Center

Carmunanne L. Radke

A woman pleaded no contest Thursday in Douglas County District Court to misdemeanor vehicular homicide and DUI for a 2020 car crash that killed a 50-year-old Minnesota man.

The woman, Carmunanne L. Radke, 39, of Edwardsville, was originally charged in Douglas County with one felony count of involuntary manslaughter and one felony count of aggravated battery, according to charging documents. She was scheduled to go to trial next week but pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charges on Thursday.

As the Journal-World reported, on March 1, 2020, around 2 a.m., David Lee Woelfle, of Lino Lakes, Minnesota, hit a deer while driving a Ram ProMaster van near the 199 mile marker on Interstate 70 between the McDonald Drive and Kansas Highway 10 interchanges. Woelfle reportedly lost control of the vehicle, struck the inside barrier wall and came to rest in an eastbound lane of the highway.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Tatum said Thursday that shortly after Woelfle hit the deer he was trying to move his vehicle off the roadway when Radke, who was driving a GMC Yukon, came along and struck Woelfle’s vehicle, which was blocking a lane of traffic. Radke and her passenger were also injured in the crash. Radke was taken to an area hospital; about an hour after the crash, her blood was drawn and showed an alcohol level of .1, which is above the legal limit of .08, Tatum said.

Judge Amy Hanley said that Radke faced 12 months in jail for the vehicular homicide charge and up to six months in jail for the DUI and would have to pay a mandatory $750 fine. Hanley asked the parties if they were ready to proceed to sentencing after the plea was entered, which is standard procedure in misdemeanor cases.

Tatum asked to delay sentencing, saying that the victim’s brother wanted to write a statement to the court beforehand. Tatum said that the brother thought he had more time to write it since the case was supposed to go to trial next week.

Radke’s attorney, Nicholas David, objected to the delay and said that this case had been going on for years. He said it could be expected that the victim’s brother would advocate for the most severe penalty.

Hanley agreed that the case had been going on for quite some time but said she wanted to read the letter. She set Radke’s sentencing hearing for Monday.

Radke has been free on a $7,500 bond since her arrest in February 2021, according to court records.

The Journal-World has requested Radke’s booking photo from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.