Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom announced that Jonna Kojo Armartey, age 38 formerly of Eagan, was sentenced on Monday to 567 months in prison by Judge Shawn Moynihan in connection with deliberately driving his vehicle into 58-year-old Diane Peterson and 74-year-old Roger Peterson on June 28, 2018, killing them both, while they were walking in Eagan. Armartey pled guilty August 5, 2018 to two counts of Murder in the Second Degree (Intentional). As part of the sentence Armartey was also ordered to pay restitution. A summary of the criminal complaint stated that shortly before 10 PM on June 28th, Eagan police officers were dispatched to a parking lot on a report of two people in need of medical attention. When officers arrived, they found both Diane and Roger Peterson struggling to breathe. Both were transported to Regions Hospital where they were pronounced dead. The injuries were consistent with blunt force trauma. In an interview, Armartey stated he saw the Petersons and that they “freaked him out” so he ran them over “going fast and hit them hard”. Backstrom praised Kathy Keena, who prosecuted the case, and thanked the Eagan Police Department, the Minnesota State Patrol and the Dakota County Sheriff?s Office for their thorough investigation of this case.
