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Tim Nelson
St. Paul

Mpls. driver found guilty of killing girlfriend in crash

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A jury has convicted a 21-year-old Minneapolis man for a crash that killed his girlfriend in September.

Michael Campbell was found guilty on two counts of criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the death of Ria Patel, a University of St. Thomas student. He was also found guilty of leaving the scene of an accident.

Patel died in a crash on Stinson Boulevard, near the Quarry shopping center in northeast Minneapolis, early on the morning of Sept. 17.

A witness to the crash told police that she saw Campbell flee the crash scene. Investigators found his wallet in the wrecked car and went to his house. He wasn't there, but the criminal complaint against him says a roommate told police that Campbell had been at the house in the early morning hours and described him as "super drunk."

Campbell disappeared for more than a day following the crash. He later admitted to police that he had been drinking before the crash and ran away, leaving his dying girlfriend behind. Patel's family said he later tried to cover up his role in the crash by denying that he had been driving the car.

At trial, Campbell cast blame on Patel for the crash, saying she grabbed his face and kissed him as he drove and that the car hit a traffic signal as they kissed. Patel suffered serious facial and head injuries in the crash, prosecutors said, but Campbell did not.

Campbell is scheduled to be sentenced April 5, and Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman says prosecutors will ask for nearly five years in prison.