Derrick Thompson, who is accused of causing a crash that killed five young Somali women in Minneapolis last year, has rejected a plea deal offered to him in August and will take the case to a jury. At a pretrial hearing on Monday, Thompson, the son of a former St. Paul state representative, told Hennepin County District Judge Carolina Lamas that he understood rejecting the deal by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office means he faces third-degree murder charges, which were added in September. Lamas set Feb. 18 for the start of the trial. Derrick John Thompson (Courtesy of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office) The plea offer, which expired Monday, called for a prison term between 32½ and nearly 39 years for pleading guilty to five counts of criminal vehicular homicide for causing a collision and leaving the scene. The charges say that Thompson sped through a red light in a rented Cadillac Escalade at Lake Street and Second Avenue and struck a Honda Civic with the five women inside just after 10 p.m. June 16, 2023. Thompson is the son of former Minnesota Rep. John Thompson, who represented St. Paul’s East Side for one term beginning in 2021. A federal jury last month found Derrick Thompson guilty of federal drug and weapons charges connected to the crash after more than 2,000 fentanyl pills and a Glock 40 semiautomatic handgun were found inside the Cadillac after the crash. A federal sentencing date has not been set. Related Articles Crime & Public Safety | Granite Falls man gets 7½ years for choking, sexually assaulting girlfriend in St. Catherine dorm room Crime & Public Safety | Man arrested by Oak Park Heights police found with possible explosive devices Crime & Public Safety | St. Paul murder charges: Argument over money between men, 64 and 70, led to fight and stabbing Crime & Public Safety | CenturyLink wire theft leaves more than 600 St. Paul customers without landline access for days Crime & Public Safety | Ex-officer found guilty in the 2020 shooting death of Andre Hill