A 19-year-old man who pleaded guilty to his role in a crash that killed a middle schooler in Independence last year has been sentenced.
Connor Michael Iversen was given a 44-month prison sentence (three years and eight months) in Hennepin County Court on Wednesday following his guilty plea to one count of criminal vehicular homicide earlier this year.
Iversen will be credited for 409 days of time served.
As previously reported, the crash occurred on Feb. 26, 2025, near County Roads 6 and 83 in Independence. Iverson, reportedly on his phone moments before the crash, drove through a four-way stop at 63 mph and struck two vehicles.
A passenger in one of the vehicles, 11-year-old Lilyana Loycano, was brought to the hospital with a neck injury. She did not survive.
Lily’s parents fought back tears as they testified in court on Wednesday.
“She was a sweet, radiant soul who loved deeply everyone, everything, every animal and every Pink song. She wore her heart on her sleeve,” said Emmy Loycano, Lily’s mother.
West Hennepin Police Sgt. Jon Howes, the first emergency responder to reach the scene, recalled holding Lily’s limp body in his arms.
“For the first time in my 21-year career, everything seemed to slow down, almost as if it were a dream,” Howes said.
Howes told the court how Iversen was “disrespectful to the seriousness of the situation” and kept asking how long the investigation would take.
As part of Iversen’s plea deal, criminal charges were dropped in a different case.
“I took this prison sentence to prevent any more pain on the family,” Iversen told the court.
Judge Shereen Askalani explained that Iversen’s 44-month sentence was within the Minnesota sentencing guidelines, but afterward, Lily’s parents called the prison term “a slap in the face.”
“Forty-four months is not justice,” Emmy Loycano said.
