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Avon man convicted of fatal high-speed crash that killed one and seriously injured another

(KNSI) – A 24-year-old Avon man is accused of killing one person and seriously injuring another Crash at high speed was convicted last August.

Hunter Buckentine was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison, with credit for time served thereafter plead guilty in one case for criminal homicide in traffic – gross negligence. Other Feesincluding two counts of criminal vehicular use, one count of criminal vehicular homicide and third-degree murder, were dropped. The murder charge also included the wording that the defendant had “committed an extremely dangerous act and demonstrated a depraved mind.”

Court documents state that shortly before 1:15 a.m. on August 19, 2023, a Minnesota State Trooper saw Hunter Buckentine driving westbound on Highway 10 near Becker at a high rate of speed. Speeding at 132 mph, more than twice the speed limit, the trooper attempted to conduct a traffic stop but said Buckentine's vehicle was missing. He continued driving toward Buckentine's last known location, encountered debris on the road near Clear Lake and saw a woman frantically waving her arms. She told the officer she saw a car coming up behind her so quickly that she had no time to react, and the car crashed into her, causing her Chevy Cobalt to spin around and roll into the ditch. The officer saw two people lying near the car and saw Buckentine's Infiniti about 200 yards away with flames coming from underneath. When he got to the car there was no one in it. Buckintine's passenger said he broke a window and climbed out, while Buckintine also climbed out a window but ran away. He told investigators he followed Buckentine, who took off his clothes and said he was going to kill himself.

Jordan Kramer, 34, was a passenger in the Cobalt. He died at the scene of the accident. Another passenger, 38-year-old Candice Pooler, suffered life-threatening injuries and was flown to CentraCare – St. Cloud Hospital for treatment.

Investigators say Buckentine showed no signs of slowing down before the crash and a search of his Snapchat account revealed the speedometer read 150 mph and the text read “New Record.”

The passenger in the Infiniti told police he and Buckentine went to a bar in Becker, where he drank at least three shots and a mixed drink, and Buckentine drank two shots between 9:45 and 11 p.m. The man said he was drunk. but Buckentine seemed fine. They headed to a home in Clear Lake around 1 a.m. As they left town, he said Buckentine was driving between 75 and 80 miles per hour and thought he saw a police officer. He then accelerated up to 150 miles per hour before taking a Snapchat photo of his speed with his phone. The passenger said he looked up and saw a car about a foot in front of him before the accident.

Police were still investigating the accident around 6 a.m. when a man in a pickup truck told police he was looking for his son and had tracked him to that location using the Life360 app. The man told officers that Hunter Buckentine was supposed to be his son's sober driver Friday night.

Police performed an emergency ping on the man's phone and found where it was located. They spotted jeans with an Infiniti key fob in the pocket and a black T-shirt.

That afternoon, according to prosecutors, Buckentine called Sherburne County police and said he woke up in strange clothes, all of his belongings were missing and he wanted to speak to a deputy. He said he went to the bar and had a shot and a mixed drink, but he didn't remember being drunk or leaving the bar, when he left or who he left with. Next, he said he was lying on a baseball field in unknown clothing and had gone into a store to call the police because everything, including his wallet, was gone.

Buckentine was arrested and held without bail.

In addition to the prison sentence, he was ordered to pay restitution to the victims' families.

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