20-03-2025
Boy, 4, dies from crash injuries; mother charged with being high behind wheel
A 4-year-old boy has died from the injuries he sustained in a two-vehicle crash involving his mother, who was allegedly high on meth behind the wheel.
The Chisago County Sheriff's Office provided an update confirming that the boy died at around 12:25 p.m. Thursday. He was among seven people – five of them children – injured in the crash on the evening of Friday, March 14.
The boy's mother, Ashlee Klapperick, 36, of Mora, was charged with six counts of criminal vehicular operation in connection with the collision, charges that will now be reviewed following her son's death.
She was driving a Chevy Cruze containing the 4-year-old and another child, aged 3, when she struck a Chrysler Pacifica head-on.
The 4-year-old boy sustained severe injuries, with responders conducting chest compressions for 11 minutes to obtain a light pulse, before he was airlifted to a Twin Cities hospital, where he died six days later. The 3-year-old child sustained a broken collarbone in the collision.
The Chrysler contained a mother and her three children, aged 9, 4 and 3, all of whom were taken to Twin Cities hospitals for treatment on various non-life-threatening injuries.
The Chrysler driver told police she was driving southbound on Rush Lake Trail in Nessell Township when the northbound Chevy swerved across the centerline. The Chrysler driver said she turned into the northbound lane to avoid a collision, but the Chevy "attempted to correct last second and swerved back into the northbound lane, striking her van head on."
Deputies responding to the scene suspected Klapperick was under the influence of drugs, according to the criminal complaint, noting she "had difficult time keeping her eyes open, watery eyes with a dazed glaze, very droopy eyelids, and poor hygiene."
She allegedly told the deputy she used meth "a couple days ago" and marijuana the day before, but the deputy believed her drug use happened within the past 24 hours.
Deputies found a glass pipe with residue that appeared to be for smoking meth. Also inside the car was a small tin container that contained suspected methamphetamine.
A field test for meth was conducted on Klapperick, which "indicated positive for methamphetamine," the complaint says.
