A 19-year-old driver driving illegally on a Wright County road causes a fatal accident

Authorities said Thursday that a 19-year-old driver trying to avoid slower vehicles collided head-on with an SUV in Wright County, killing one person and injuring several others.

SUV passenger Janice Evelyn Johnson, 92, of Arden Hills, died Monday in HCMC from injuries suffered in an Oct. 22 collision in Monticello Township on County Road 37 near County Road 12, the Sheriff’s Office said in a search warrant affidavit filed in Hennepin County District Court.

The driver and two other people in the SUV survived their injuries, according to an affidavit filed by the Sheriff’s Office to collect Johnson’s medical records at HCMC as part of the investigation.

The sheriff’s office said the reports were forwarded to the district attorney’s office to review charges against the driver of the car, Christian Kabunang of Albertville, Minnesota.

According to the statement and the Sheriff’s Office:

Deputies arrived at the scene of the accident and spoke with Kabunangu, who said he was driving west on County Road 37 and came up behind two vehicles traveling below the speed limit.

“He was late for work, so he decided to donate them,” the statement reads. Kabunangu said he saw the SUV approaching and estimated it was about a half-mile away.

He explained that when he tried to pass one of the slower vehicles, the other driver “accelerated, preventing him from returning to the westbound lane,” the filing continued.