St. Michael Man Pleads Guilty to Involuntary Manslaughter

U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of North Dakota
July 24, 2012

FARGO—U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on July 24, 2012, Douglas Allen Baker, a/k/a Douglas Lawrence, of St. Michael, North Dakota, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Erickson to a charge of involuntary manslaughter.

On September 8, 2011, Baker was driving his vehicle traveling east on BIA Road #6, an asphalt two-lane road in rural St. Michael, North Dakota. Upon exiting a curve and while driving at an excessive rate of speed, Baker drove completely in the west-bound lane and collided head-on with an on-coming vehicle, causing the death of Dana Grow, the driver of that vehicle. Grow, of Grand Forks, North Dakota, was on his way to work at 7:22 a.m. when the crash occurred.

It was determined later by law enforcement that Baker’s blood alcohol concentration was .210. The incident occurred on September 8, 2011, on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation.

The charge of involuntary manslaughter carries a statutory maximum penalty of eight years’ imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Fort Totten Police Department.

Sentencing for Baker has been scheduled for October 15, 2012, in U.S. District Court in Fargo, North Dakota, at 11:00 a.m.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Janice M. Morley is prosecuting the case.