Mary Preciado grew up on St. Paul’s West Side, where she was immersed in Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church her entire life. Her mother, Carlota Arellano, was one of the founding members of the parish that began on the West Side flats in 1931.

The church was everything to Preciado and her five sisters, who for decades volunteered their time — and cooking skills — to the women’s church organization called Guadalupanas. The Arellano family began the Lenten cheese enchilada dinners, which remain a popular fundraiser at the predominantly Mexican-American parish.

“Small in stature, she might have been, but she had a profound impact on the people of her community and others,” Amanda Preciado, the youngest of her three daughters, told a Ramsey County courtroom on Monday.

Preciado’s family and friends had gathered in the courtroom for the sentencing of Donald Harris. In May 2021, Harris fatally struck 82-year-old Preciado with his SUV while speeding and high on fentanyl. She was hit while doing yardwork in front of her Mounds View home.

Judge Kelly Olmstead went on to sentence 64-year-old Harris to 12½ years in prison, which was the presumptive sentence for a third-degree murder conviction. In August, the judge found the Coon Rapids man guilty of the charge and also two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and drug possession in connection with the hit-and-run crash.

Olmstead noted Monday how Harris testified at his trial that he had become addicted to painkillers after suffering back injuries while serving in the Army between 1975 and 1987.

Before the crash, Harris had bought $50 on credit of what he believed to be heroin from a new dealer in North Minneapolis. He testified to snorting what was for him a usual amount, and then putting it away and driving off on his way home.

“This isn’t an anomaly, but an all-too-familiar story of opiate abuse that stems from prescription pain medication,” the judge said. “But this time it took an especially bright star, not only from her family, but the entire West Side community.”

May 25 crash

A woman told police after the May 25 crash that she was driving south on Long Lake Road around 1:15 p.m. when Harris sped past her at a high rate of speed in the no-passing zone. Harris then swerved and struck Preciado at what investigators later determined to be around 40 mph.

On impact, Preciado was thrown up and over the SUV, hitting her head on the windshield and landing in the street approximately 100 feet away.

“The injuries she sustained were catastrophic and immediately fatal,” Olmstead wrote in her Aug. 26 court filing following his conviction.

Preciado was hit with such force that her shoes were left where she had just stood moments before picking up grass clippings, according to police. A shovel she’d been using was shattered into pieces.

Harris did not slow down or stop after hitting Preciado. Other motorists reported seeing his black Ford Escape with a smashed windshield driving erratically on Mounds View Boulevard and into Spring Lake Park, where he crashed into the ditch and hit a sign at County Road 10 and Cottagewood Terrace, just west of Highway 65.

One witness checked on Harris, who was holding small bottles of alcohol in his right hand. He was brought to the curb. When officers arrived, Harris had a phone in his hand and appeared to have trouble trying to use it. He had difficulty with balance and speech.

Officers found blood and hair embedded in the smashed windshield, along with a pair of small alcohol bottles and a baggie of a suspected illegal drug in a cigarette pack. An analysis of Harris’ blood sample revealed the presence of morphine (a metabolite of codeine or heroin) and fentanyl.

A doctor testified at Harris’ trial that the toxicology report indicated a fentanyl concentration of 20.8 nanograms per milliliter. When used for anesthesia, a typical concentration would be 10 to 20 nanograms per milliliter.

In her August court filing, Olmstead wrote that the question in the case was whether Harris’ actions “evinced a depraved mind,” which is part of the legal requirement for a third-degree murder conviction under state law.

“Defendant admitted that he knew even before tragedy struck that what he was doing was wrong and dangerous,” she wrote.

‘A big, giving heart and soul’

Preciado’s two other daughters also gave victim impact statements in court before Harris received his sentence. Nadine Bergstrom said her mother “had a big, giving heart and soul.” Yolanda Preciado-Uribe said she was “strong in her beliefs … some say she was stubborn.”

Preciado’s son, Tony Preciado, also spoke, recalling his mother’s cooking, which he said was matched by no one. She would call him up, telling him to hurry over because “the stuff is getting cold.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t get those phone calls anymore,” he said.