The final charges against Diane Bakdash were dropped Thursday by the Hennepin County attorney’s office, according to the Star Tribune.
Bakdash, 66, of Roseville, had been accused of advising her son, Timothy Bakdash, to dispose of the car involved in an April hit-and-run in Dinkytown that led to the death of a University of Minnesota student.
The Hennepin County attorney’s office said in the county’s dismissal that Timothy Bakdash would testify that his mother thought he had hit a deer, and that her statements stemmed from his negotiating the sale of a vehicle. The state could not prove beyond reasonable doubt that Diane Bakdash knew otherwise, according to the dismissal.
In addition to the misdemeanor charge of obstructing the legal process or arrest that was dropped Thursday, the felony charge of being an accomplice by telling her son to get rid of the car was dropped in August.
Timothy Bakdash is accused of first-degree murder for running down a group of students, including University student Benjamin Van Handel, as they walked away from a Dinkytown bar April 15. Van Handel, 23, died April 21 from injuries sustained in the crash.
Timothy Bakdash’s trial will begin Nov. 15.