Man pleads guilty in fatal St. Louis County ATV crash

Casey Jerald Daniels has pleaded guilty in St. Louis County to criminal vehicular homicide after a fatal utility terrain vehicle crash that killed his passenger on an ATV trail between Chisholm and Buhl.

The plea, entered May 29, 2026, leaves Daniels facing sentencing rather than trial for the July 27, 2024 crash in Balkan Township. Prosecutors said Daniels was behind the wheel of a side-by-side ATV when it rolled on the trail, throwing both occupants from the vehicle. Kevin Joseph Jamnick, 31, of Hibbing, died at the scene.

Investigators said alcohol and speed were believed to have played a role. Daniels was later reported to have a blood alcohol concentration of 0.113, above Minnesota’s legal limit. Early reports also said neither Daniels nor Jamnick was wearing a seat belt or helmet when the vehicle overturned.

Daniels pleaded guilty to one count of criminal vehicular homicide involving an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more within two hours of driving. Under Minnesota law, the felony can carry up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000. The state said it will seek a prison sentence, and a sentencing hearing is set for the afternoon of July 16, 2026, in St. Louis County District Court in Hibbing.

The case now shifts from guilt to punishment, but the wider question is how a death like Jamnick’s happened on a trail system where off-road riding is common across the Iron Range. The crash involved a recreational vehicle, impaired driving allegations and a fatal passenger injury, a combination that puts the county’s safety messaging and enforcement under renewed scrutiny as summer riding season begins.

Jamnick’s obituary says he was born June 10, 1993, graduated from Hibbing High School in 2012 and worked as an IT technician for L and M Supply. He was a lifelong Hibbing resident. For his family, the guilty plea brings a formal reckoning to a case that began with an apparent rollover and ended with a death in the woods of Balkan Township.

County Attorney Kim Maki said the case shows the danger of impaired driving, while the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office was credited with investigating the crash and assistant county attorney Tyler Kenefick prosecuted the case. Daniels’ plea came less than three weeks before trial was scheduled, turning what could have been a contested courtroom fight into a sentencing proceeding with prison still on the table.