WAHPETON, N.D. – Formal charges are filed against a woman in connection to a deadly crash last August.
According to court records, Danielle Stein, of Hankinson, was officially charged in Richland County Thursday with a Class C felony for negligent homicide.
A probable cause declaration, obtained by Flag Family News, shows authorities were called just after 4 p.m. on August 26, 2025, to an injury crash, where a vehicle had struck a person riding a bicycle. CPR was in progress and Life Flight was being sent to the scene, according to the Highway Patrol’s declaration.
It was determined that Stein was northbound on County Road 81. She told the Highway Patrol trooper that she was ‘looking around’ but did not see anyone. A crash reconstruction showed that the bicyclist, Mariah Buck, was in the process of making a left turn into her driveway when she was struck along the left side of the bike.
The reconstruction showed Stein was traveling between 64 and 69 miles per hour in a 55 mile per hour zone at the time of the crash. A search of her phone indicated she was using it at the time of the crash.
The Patrol said her use of the phone ‘led to a fatal motor vehicle crash which caused Mariah Buck’s death.’ An autopsy revealed she died from ‘multiple traumatic injuries due to bicycle-motor vehicle collision.’
No court hearings have been set for Stein.
