Fargo woman pleads guilty to misdemeanors in boyfriend's death

By Emily Welker  A Fargo woman originally charged with manslaughter and making false reports to police after allegedly killing her boyfriend by knocking him off the hood of her car following a fight about infidelity has pleaded guilty. Olivia Katherine Anderson, 21, pleaded guilty Monday in Cass County District Court to one count of reckless driving and one count of false information to law enforcement, both Class A misdemeanors. Prosecutors originally charged Anderson with manslaughter in the death of her boyfriend, Dvaughn Rutues, who was rushed to the hospital on March 7 with a severe head injury when he fell off the hood of Anderson’s car after she slammed on the brakes. Rutues had just returned to the home where Anderson had spent the night babysitting, court documents say. Anderson accused him of being out with other women and stormed out of the house to drive to her sister’s house, when Rutues followed her, according to court documents. Rutues’ family spoke in court Monday, asking Judge Norman Anderson to hold Anderson accountable for his death. “This changed my life – he had a baby,” said Rutues’ father, Kelvin Golar. “He didn’t deserve this. … It’s an open wound to my family.” “Our family has sustained a very great loss. … He has a daughter that will never ever grow up and know her dad,” said Golar’s sister, Mildred Golar. “He was a good kid.” Anderson said in court Monday that she didn’t mean to kill her boyfriend. “I didn’t mean to hurt anybody – I loved him,” she said during her sentencing hearing. Prosecutors asked the judge to sentence Anderson to three months in jail and a year of supervised probation, partially because of her minimal criminal history and the lack of intent to kill Rutues. Anderson was sober at the time of the crash and didn’t act appropriately to defuse the situation with the “very drunk” Rutues, said Cass County prosecutor Ryan Younggren. “She was able to resolve things with a level head. She did not do that,” Younggren said. Complicating matters for Fargo police investigators was that Anderson and her sister, Alexis Anderson, both at first told police they didn’t know what happened to Rutues. Both women claimed they didn’t see the crash, court documents say. Defense attorney Steve Mottinger asked Judge Anderson to impose community service instead of some of the jail time prosecutors requested. “She stepped up to the plate, she called 911, she went down to the hospital,” Mottinger said. Anderson imposed the sentence prosecutors sought, saying the main point was that she didn’t mean to kill the victim. He allowed her to serve her three-month jail term on work release. Anderson also sentenced Alexis Anderson to a year of supervised probation after she pleaded guilty to a single count of Class A misdemeanor false information to police.
By Emily Welker A Fargo woman originally charged with manslaughter and making false reports to police after allegedly killing her boyfriend by knocking him off the hood of her car following a fight about infidelity has pleaded guilty.Olivia Katherine Anderson, 21, pleaded guilty Monday in Cass County District Court to one count of reckless driving and one count of false information to law enforcement, both Class A misdemeanors.Prosecutors originally charged Anderson with manslaughter in the death of her boyfriend, Dvaughn Rutues, who was rushed to the hospital on March 7 with a severe head injury when he fell off the hood of Anderson’s car after she slammed on the brakes.Rutues had just returned to the home where Anderson had spent the night babysitting, court documents say. Anderson accused him of being out with other women and stormed out of the house to drive to her sister’s house, when Rutues followed her, according to court documents.Rutues’ family spoke in court Monday, asking Judge Norman Anderson to hold Anderson accountable for his death.“This changed my life – he had a baby,” said Rutues’ father, Kelvin Golar. “He didn’t deserve this. … It’s an open wound to my family.”“Our family has sustained a very great loss. … He has a daughter that will never ever grow up and know her dad,” said Golar’s sister, Mildred Golar. “He was a good kid.”Anderson said in court Monday that she didn’t mean to kill her boyfriend.“I didn’t mean to hurt anybody – I loved him,” she said during her sentencing hearing.Prosecutors asked the judge to sentence Anderson to three months in jail and a year of supervised probation, partially because of her minimal criminal history and the lack of intent to kill Rutues.Anderson was sober at the time of the crash and didn’t act appropriately to defuse the situation with the “very drunk” Rutues, said Cass County prosecutor Ryan Younggren.“She was able to resolve things with a level head. She did not do that,” Younggren said.Complicating matters for Fargo police investigators was that Anderson and her sister, Alexis Anderson, both at first told police they didn’t know what happened to Rutues. Both women claimed they didn’t see the crash, court documents say.Defense attorney Steve Mottinger asked Judge Anderson to impose community service instead of some of the jail time prosecutors requested.“She stepped up to the plate, she called 911, she went down to the hospital,” Mottinger said.Anderson imposed the sentence prosecutors sought, saying the main point was that she didn’t mean to kill the victim.He allowed her to serve her three-month jail term on work release.Anderson also sentenced Alexis Anderson to a year of supervised probation after she pleaded guilty to a single count of Class A misdemeanor false information to police.