Tragic Collision: Driver Ignores Red Lights, Strikes Two Best Friends Visiting Cancer-Stricken Companion

A woman from Minnesota has admitted guilt after running multiple red lights and causing a fatal crash that resulted in the deaths of two women.

On Monday, 40-year-old Teniki Steward entered a guilty plea for two counts of third-degree murder and two counts of criminal vehicular operation. This plea is linked to a tragic incident on December 16, 2024, where a crash led to the deaths of two women and injured two others. Court documents accessed by Fox affiliate KMSP reveal that Steward was driving her Buick Enclave at high speed, ignoring two red lights before colliding with a Ford Explorer, which was transporting 57-year-old Rose Reece and 53-year-old Esther Fulks.

The impact forced the Ford into a bus stop, where a 17-year-old boy was awaiting his ride to school. Both he and a male passenger in Steward’s vehicle sustained injuries and were hospitalized.

In a press release outlining the plea deal, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty stated that Steward “narrowly avoided multiple collisions before striking the vehicle carrying Rose and Esther.”

Drakarr Lobley, the son of Rose Reece, shared with NBC affiliate KARE that his mother and Fulks were lifelong friends employed at the Cultural Wellness Center. On the morning of the accident, they were en route to visit a friend who had recently been diagnosed with cancer.

In a GoFundMe campaign in honor of Reece, Lobley said his late mother was “a force of compassion and strength in the Minneapolis community.” He added, “For over 30 years, my mother was a tireless advocate” and a “beacon of hope, a source of strength, and a symbol of selfless service.”

Fulks’ daughter wrote in another GoFundMe campaign that Fulks was a “mother of four and very loved in her community.”

Moriarty stated that Steward offered a “straight plea” that did not include a negotiated sentence. Steward’s sentencing is scheduled for April 17.