Minneapolis protester killed in car crash identified as 31-year-old mother of two
A recovering addict raising two daughters while working as a home health care provider for vulnerable adults has been identified as the victim killed when a car slammed into Minneapolis protesters Sunday night.
Deona Knajdek, who would have turned 32 on Wednesday, was killed just before midnight when a driver plowed into her car, which was parked and being used as a blockade to protect protesters. The impact sent her car flying, hitting her and several other protesters, her family told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Knajdek was hospitalized, but unable to be saved.
Another protester was also hospitalized and two others sought treatment later, the Minneapolis Police Department told the Daily News Monday.
Woman killed when car slams into Minneapolis protesters
The driver was apprehended by the protesters until he was taken into custody by police. He has not been identified and police have not revealed a motive, but said that drugs or alcohol “may be a contributing factor in the crash.”
“She wanted something to matter and she wanted Black lives to matter and for this all to stop. There is no need. This is why they were coming together last night was to be peaceful and to use words to make an impact on people around them,” Knajdek’s mother, Debbie Kenney, told the Star Tribune.
“My daughter’s life being lost last night should empower us all to move forward to do a better cause. We will scream her name for the rest of my days. We will continue to pound the ground and make a fight for my daughter and for everyone else that she impacted and why she was doing that impact.”
Protesters had gathered Sunday night outside the parking garage where 32-year-old Winston Boogie Smith Jr. was fatally shot by a task force that included U.S. Marshals during an attempted arrest on June 3.
The U.S. Marshals claimed Smith fired began shooting at them first, after which they returned fire, killing him.
But a lawyer for the 27-year-old woman who was in the car with Smith told reporters last week that she never saw Smith draw a weapon.
State investigators have claimed there is no footage of the incident.
Knajdek’s brother, Garrett, said that she would have wanted the peaceful protests to continue.
“[Deona] was trying to do something better for the world. She’s always been known to risk everything for everybody and this proves it,” he told WCCO. “Of all the people I know she’s been through far more than anybody and still continues to smile every single day no matter how dark it was.”
Knajdek’s employer, The Cottage Group, said they would plant magnolia trees “representing nobility, dignity, and perseverance” at each of their locations to “honor her legacy as the amazing human being she always was.”
“She was one of the most selfless people we have had the pleasure of knowing, she earned the respect and trust of those she served because of her true compassion for her work,” the company, where she worked as a program manager at two residential sites, wrote on Facebook.
“She will be deeply missed by those she served and served with. Our prayers go out to the family, friends and those who had the pleasure of knowing such a kindhearted woman.”
