Eden Prairie fatal crash: Wrong-way driver charged with criminal vehicular homicide

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Image shows the aftermath of a fatal head-on crash in Eden Prairie.  (FOX 9)

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (FOX 9) - A Victoria woman faces a felony charge after police say she caused a deadly head-on crash while driving the wrong way on Highway 212 on Saturday. 

Police say wrong-way driver caused fatal crash 

The backstory:

Amanda Lyn Merriman has been charged with criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the incident.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court, Eden Prairie Police and Minnesota State Patrol responded to reports of a truck traveling the wrong way on westbound Highway 212 near Prairie Center Drive just before 8 p.m. on April 11. 

The complaint states officers found a pickup truck crashed head-on into a small sedan. The sedan’s driver was pronounced dead at the scene from catastrophic injuries. Police identified the truck’s driver as Merriman. Officers say they smelled alcohol on her, and she admitted to drinking two vodka cranberry drinks before driving. Merriman told police she was driving home from River Falls, Wis., and did not realize she was going the wrong way.

According to the complaint, officers searched Merriman’s vehicle and found a glass pipe used for narcotics and a baggie of marijuana. Police say Merriman’s driver’s license was revoked due to a 2024 DWI conviction, and she was on probation for a drug offense at the time of the crash. 

The complaint states Merriman told authorities she had her GPS mounted in the vehicle giving her directions home. She said she perceived she was going to be an accident about 30 to 45 seconds before the collision, and said he applied her brakes.

Why you should care:

Merriman has a history of DWI convictions, including a gross misdemeanor DWI in September 2025 for which she is currently on probation, and a misdemeanor DWI from December 2005.

Her license was revoked following a DWI in 2024, and she was also on probation for a methamphetamine possession conviction at the time of the crash. Court documents show Merriman faces up to 15 years in prison and a $20,000 fine if convicted. She is being held on $350,000 bail and is ordered to remain in custody pending further proceedings. 

The driver of the Volkswagen, Bohdan Antoniuk, 69, of Hopkins, died from his injuries. A woman in the vehicle with him was also injured.