A Tesla driver who likely struck and killed a pedestrian in Minnesota says he doesn’t remember running anyone over, and that if he did, he was driving with Autopilot on, according to the Star Tribune. The driver initially denied running over a Mille Lacs County doctor, 56-year-old Cathy Donovan, but evidence has led the Model X driver to claim he doesn’t remember killing Donovan because Autopilot was engaged while he was checking work emails, as Futurism reports.
On November 13, 2023, Dr. Cathy Donovan was walking her two dogs in the early evening. When Donovan tried to cross the highway, she and one of her dogs was fatally struck by an SUV that fled the scene. Traffic cam photos would later identify it as a gray Tesla Model X, and cell phone records placed the man at the scene when Donovan was killed. Witnesses said her body was visible on the hood of the vehicle, according to an earlier report by KSTP:
The Mille Lacs County Sheriff’s Office previously released a picture and description of the suspect vehicle, and Sheriff Kyle Burton has said investigators believe Donovan was on the hood of the vehicle that [hit] her “for possibly a couple thousand feet.”
According to a search warrant, two people in the area told investigators that they saw a body on the hood of a northbound vehicle in the area where Donovan was found and at around that time.
Agents searched cellphone data to determine people who were in the area at the time Donovan was hit. One of those people, an adult male from Edina, told investigators he regularly drives that route on his way to his cabin in Cross Lake but wasn’t certain if that was the case on Nov. 13. He does, however, drive a dark gray 2022 Tesla Model X, according to court documents.
While the man, who is not yet charged, denied hitting Donovan, the warrant notes that investigators reviewed surveillance video of the area and a Tesla matching the Edina man’s was the only vehicle that traveled northbound in that area of Highway 169 between the time one witness reported seeing Donovan standing alongside the road and another found Donovan’s body.
The investigation continued, and some weeks after the driver denied running over Donovan, investigators returned with more evidence suggesting it may have been him — including a windshield wiper that had come off the SUV and was left at the scene of Donovan’s death. Police also found hair samples on the man’s Tesla Model X, and a later inspection revealed it had front end damage:
Two weeks after the man denied hitting Donovan, investigators questioned him again. He “maintained that he doesn’t remember hitting Cathy Donovan with his Tesla, but if he did, he would have been alone in his Tesla driving on ‘autopilot,’ not paying attention to the road, while doing things like checking work emails,” according to the filings.
A team from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension also found light front-end damage to the car that an earlier visual inspection by authorities did not detect. The earlier affidavit noted that hair was collected off the SUV in three locations.
In light of the new evidence, the unidentified man has reportedly cooperated with police and investigators who are looking into the death of Cathy Donovan.
The man remains unidentified since the investigation is still ongoing, but the evidence is mounting against him, leading his attorney to tell the Star Tribune:
My client is inconsolable thinking that he was involved in the accident with Ms. Donovan, and he is heartbroken for her family, her loved ones, and the community.
“We are committed to finding out the entire truth about what occurred. My client voluntarily spoke to investigators, and he explained it is probable his car would’ve been using Tesla’s full self-driving capability. He will continue to fully cooperate with this investigation until its completion.
The damage to the man’s Tesla Model X, cell phone data, eye witness testimony and hair samples could have prompted the man to change his tune from flat-out denial to simply not recalling having run over Donovan and her dog because his Tesla was on Autopilot. If the investigation finds this to be the case, it will hardly be the first time Tesla’s driving assist features will have been involved in a fatal incident. Even then, it’s hard to imagine not being able to remember running and killing someone over while operating a vehicle at highway speeds.
