Former DFL leader admits guilt in fatal Highway 169 hit-and-run

Cynthia “Cyndy” Martin’s guilty plea brings legal closure to the fatal Highway 169 hit-and-run that killed 19-year-old Carter John Haithcock and turned a Northland criminal case into a political reckoning. The former northern Minnesota DFL leader admitted guilt Thursday, May 21, to criminal vehicular homicide and leaving the scene, accepting a plea deal that calls for 364 days in jail, below the usual sentencing range for the felony.

The plea means Martin now faces punishment in a case that could have carried far more time. Under Minnesota law, criminal vehicular homicide carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. By avoiding trial, the plea also spares Haithcock’s family and the public a full courtroom fight over the facts of the crash, while still leaving Martin accountable for a collision that prosecutors said left a young man dead on the highway outside Nashwauk.

Haithcock was struck and killed on westbound U.S. Highway 169 near Nashwauk in Lone Pine Township on July 3, 2024, around 11:18 p.m. He was lying or walking in the traffic lane when at least one SUV hit him, according to investigators. Another driver swerved to avoid him and called 911. Martin did not report her possible involvement until just before 6 a.m. on July 4, and court records say she told police she thought she had hit an owl or a turkey. Investigators later identified her vehicle as a 2005 GMC Yukon.

The case had already cleared major legal hurdles before the plea. Judge Heidi Chandler ruled on Oct. 8, 2025, that there was sufficient probable cause for the case to move forward, and a plea hearing had been scheduled for Nov. 5, 2025 before the agreement was reached. The Minnesota State Patrol and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigated the crash, and a BCA blood test later came back negative for tested substances. Haithcock’s post-mortem toxicology reportedly showed a .054 BAC and THC in his system.

The crash hit especially hard in a small region where Martin was well known in party politics, including as chair of the 8th Congressional District DFL Party and vice chair of the Itasca County DFL Party. She later resigned as a northern Minnesota DFL official on Dec. 12, 2025, after more than a year of scrutiny. Haithcock, a 2023 Nashwauk High School graduate and a young father who worked at Yanmar, became the face of a case that drew 798 signatures on an online petition and left Itasca County residents watching to see whether a public figure would be held to account in a fatal traffic case.