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MPR News Staff

Minn. woman killed while cycling in Georgia

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Ashley Block
Police say a driver in Georgia who struck and killed Ashley Block, 25, was under the influence of drugs and distracted when the incident happened.
Courtesy of University of Georgia

Police say a driver in Georgia who struck and killed a Minnesota woman was under the influence of drugs and distracted when the incident happened.

Ashley Block of Minneapolis, a 25-year-old anthropology graduate student at the University of Georgia, was killed Monday while she was bicycling with others along a road in Athens, a university town east of Atlanta.

Two other cyclists she was riding with were also hit. Police say 31-year-old Whitney Howard of Hull, Ga., was driving a Jeep Liberty that crossed the center line and hit all three.

The charges include homicide by vehicle and endangering a 2-year-old girl who was in the SUV with Howard.

Block, a graduate of Minnehaha Academy, attended the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., as an undergraduate.

A report on the accident released by the Athens-Clarke County Police Department said Block was hit head on and thrown into a ditch. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

A GoFundMe page for another cyclist struck, Mitchell Enfinger, 32, says he "was hospitalized and required surgery on a lacerated spleen." The post noted he was an active cyclist, riding BMX and racing mountain bikes.

According to The Hub Bicycles Facebook page a service for Ashley Block is planned for Thursday morning in Athens.

The Athens bike shop said dozens of riders showed up Tuesday night for a mountain bike ride in Block's and Enfinger's honor.

"Although a life was lost and another in critical condition, our cycling community remains tight and will always remain so even when tragedy strikes," the post read.