Avon Man Sentenced for Fatal High Speed Crash That Killed One and Seriously Injured Another

(KNSI) — A 24-year-old Avon man accused of killing one person and seriously injuring another in a high speed crash last August has been sentenced.

Hunter Buckentine was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison with credit for time served after pleading guilty to one count of criminal vehicular homicide – gross negligence. Other charges, including two counts of criminal vehicular operation, one count of criminal vehicular homicide, and third degree murder were dropped. The murder charge also carried with it language saying the defendant was “perpetrating eminently dangerous act and evincing depraved mind.”

Court documents say just before 1:15 a.m. on August 19th, 2023, a Minnesota State Trooper saw Hunter Buckentine driving westbound on Highway 10 at a high rate of speed near Becker. The trooper clocked him at 132 miles an hour, more than twice the speed limit and tried to conduct a traffic stop but said Buckentine’s vehicle disappeared. He continued driving toward Buckentine’s last known location, came across debris on the roadway near Clear Lake, and saw a woman frantically waving her arms. She told the officer she saw a car coming up behind her so fast she had no time to react, and the car crashed into her, causing her Chevy Cobalt to spin around and roll into the ditch. The trooper saw two people lying near the car and, about 200 yards away, saw Buckentine’s Infiniti with flames coming out from underneath it. When he got to the car, there was no one inside. Buckintine’s passenger said he broke a window and climbed out, while Buckentine also climbed out a window but ran off. He told investigators he followed Buckentine, who was stripping off his clothes and saying he was going to kill himself.

Thirty-four-year-old Jordan Kramer was a passenger in the Cobalt. He died at the scene. Another passenger, 38-year-old Candice Pooler, suffered life-threatening injuries and was airlifted to CentraCare – St. Cloud Hospital for treatment.

Investigators say Buckentine showed no signs of slowing down before impact, and a search of his Snapchat account showed a speedometer reading 150 miles an hour with a text stating “new record.”

The passenger in the Infiniti told police he and Buckentine had gone to a bar in Becker where he had at least three shots and one mixed drink, and Buckentine had two shots between 9:45 and 11:00 p.m. The man said he was drunk, but Buckentine seemed OK. They left around 1:00 a.m. to go to a house in Clear Lake. As they headed out of town, he said Buckentine was driving between 75 and 80 miles an hour and thought he saw a cop. He then sped up to 150 miles an hour before using his phone to take a Snapchat picture of his speed. The passenger said he looked up and saw a car about one foot in front of them before the crash.

Police were still investigating the crash at about 6:00 a.m. when a man in a pickup truck told police he was looking for his son and had tracked him to that location using the Life360 app. The man told troopers Hunter Buckentine was supposed to be the sober driver for his son Friday night.

Police did an emergency ping from the man’s phone and found where it was tracked. They discovered jeans with a key fob for an Infiniti in the pocket and a black T-shirt.

That afternoon, prosecutors say Buckentine called Sherburne County dispatch, saying he woke up in someone else’s clothes, all his stuff was missing, and he wanted to talk to a deputy. He said he went to the bar and had a shot and a mixed drink, but he didn’t remember being drunk or leaving the bar, when he left or who he left with. He said the next thing he knew, he was lying on a baseball field wearing unfamiliar clothes, so he went to a store to call the police because everything, including his wallet, was gone.

Buckentine was arrested and held without bail.

In addition to the prison sentence, he was ordered to pay the victims’ families restitution.

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