Woman Accused Of Driving Wrong Way In Deadly Eden Prairie Crash Had Been Drinking: Police

EDEN PRAIRIE, MN — A Victoria woman accused of driving the wrong way on Highway 212 and causing a deadly head-on crash had been drinking before getting behind the wheel, according to a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County.

Amanda Lyn Merriman, 49, is charged with felony criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the April 11 crash in Eden Prairie.

Authorities say Merriman was driving a pickup truck westbound in the wrong direction on Highway 212 near Prairie Center Drive when she collided head-on with a small sedan. The driver of the sedan suffered catastrophic injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Responding officers reported smelling alcohol on Merriman, who told them she had consumed two vodka cranberry drinks before driving, the complaint states. She was taken to a hospital, where a blood sample was collected. Results of that test are pending.

Merriman told investigators she was driving home from an establishment in River Falls, Wisconsin, and had been watching a hockey game there. She said road conditions were clear and that she drives Highway 212 regularly.

According to the complaint, she told officers she realized a crash was imminent about 30 to 45 seconds before impact but did not know she was traveling the wrong way.

A search of her vehicle turned up a glass pipe and a baggie of marijuana, according to the complaint.

Court records show Merriman has multiple prior DWI-related offenses, including a gross misdemeanor conviction in 2025 for which she is currently on probation, and an earlier conviction in 2005.

Her driver’s license was revoked at the time of the crash. She was also on probation in a separate methamphetamine possession case.

Merriman is being held on $350,000 bail.