Prescott community rallies around Garza, Ford families

Posted 12/13/22

Families lament court process, tragedy of two souls lost By Greg Peters Special to The Journal Amy Hildebrandt owns and operates the Ridgetop banquet facility outside of Prescott. She was peeling and …

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Prescott community rallies around Garza, Ford families

Posted

Families lament court process, tragedy of two souls lost

By Greg Peters Special to The Journal

Amy Hildebrandt owns and operates the Ridgetop banquet facility outside of Prescott. She was peeling and cutting what looked to be a heaping pile of orange icicles in the kitchen during this interview. They were colossal carrots.

“I always have to make double cooked carrots at weddings because everyone comes back for seconds,” said the 25-year restaurant owner. “I’ve peeled a few thousand pounds over the years.”

Hildebrandt has been working in restaurants since she was in sixth grade. The day before she made lasagna and chicken alfredo for about 20 people and delivered it to the Dakota County Courthouse in Hastings, Minn. There was no charge for her meal.

“I’ve known the Fords my whole life,” said Hildebrandt, “When Karey asked for help, if you’re able, you just do it. That’s what a community does.”

Malone Elementary STEM teacher Karey Sizemore works with Veronica Ford at the Prescott School District. Ford’s son, 22-year-old Dalton Ford, was killed in a horrific car crash in Burnsville, Minn., on Easter Sunday April 4, 2021. Dalton’s longtime girlfriend, 22-year-old Tayler Garza, was also in the car and both were killed instantly. The Prescott High School alumni were making a left turn to buy coffee.

“When something like that happens in Prescott, it affects everybody,” said Sizemore. “Everyone feels the same way, you just don’t know what to do but you want to help them. That was the motivation.”

Sizemore asked numerous Prescott-area restaurant owners if they could help provide lunch each day for the families during the trial, which is currently in progress.

“There were no questions. Just a ‘yep, done.’ That was pretty cool,” said Sizemore. “Kris Sampson has been helping deliver and bringing water. Ridgetop, Philander’s, Ptacek’s, The Valley, and Lucille’s, every single person has come back instantaneously with a yes.”

The Ford and Garza families have been in the Dakota County courthouse the past week watching the third-degree murder trial unfold for Burnsville resident Camille Dennis- Bond. It has been a lengthy wait for the trial process to begin for the families. The mid-day lunches during the trial have been a community hug for Ford and their families. Ford grew up in Prescott and so did her three sons, Dylan, Dalton, and Dayne.

“Amy (Hildebrandt) rode my dad’s school bus,” said an appreciative Ford. “My dad was a school bus driver for 27 years. It’s just random acts of kindness that definitely let you know you’re in a community that truly cares about you.”

For four months after Dalton was killed, Ford had a flower fairy put a bouquet of flowers on her deck every single day.

“It wasn’t just us and the Garzas that lost Dalton and Tayler, it was this whole community,” said Ford. “I promise you we are going to pay this forward. It means a lot to us.”

Here’s where the story turns from backpage small town flower fairies and donated chicken alfredo to front page news.

“To have them taken away from us the way they did, there’s a lot of pissed off people in this town,” said Ford.

Leon Bond and his sister, Dennis-Bond, were drag racing on County Road 42 in Burnsville where it has been reported they were traveling at speeds exceeding 100 M.P.H. Dennis-Bond was in the left lane behind Bond, who was in the right lane, when Bond’s Chrysler 200 “T-Boned” Dalton Ford’s Honda CRV at such a high rate of speed that Dalton’s vehicle was sheared in two.

In the Dakota County courtroom last week, jurors watched law enforcement body-cam videos on the scene and heard Dennis-Bond say, “I hope that white (double expletive) is dead. If that white (double expletive) isn’t dead, I’m going to come over there and stomp on her face (referring to Tayler Garza).”

“I had read the witnesses say she said that,” said Ford. “I didn’t realize until I saw the video how many times she said it. The Garzas had to get up and walk out of the courtroom.”

Dennis-Bond has been on trial this past week and is charged with two counts of third-degree murder, among other charges relating to criminal vehicular operation. Preliminary reports from investigators have also acknowledged Dennis-Bond opened a Facebook account under a different name and discussed drag-racing since the accident. Dennis-Bond has also been charged with speeding twice since the April 4, 2021 accident and charged with operating without a license.

Defense attorney and current DFL Minnesota Sen. Bobby Joe Champion asked law enforcement on the stand at the trial if Dalton Ford, the driver, should have yielded to his client on the road. The officer stated, “When you’re speeding, you forfeit your right of way.”

At the writing of this story, Dennis-Bond’s trial is still on-going.

Bond’s trial is scheduled for Jan. 23, but Dakota County decided Bond will be tried as a juvenile. On the date of the accident, Bond was three months shy of his 18th birthday. If convicted as a juvenile, Bond will likely be released between six and 21 months after being admitted to a reform program, according to File No. 19HA-JV-21-814 in the Minnesota State Court of Appeals.

“I filed a complaint against Judge Carter,” said Ford. “We can’t change what happened with his (Leon’s) certification (not be tried as an adult), but maybe we can change it moving forward where one person can’t have that much power. We were just flabbergasted.”

The person Ford is referring to with too much power is Dakota County probation officer Julie Eckstrom. Eckstrom’s job was to gather information on Bond’s past legal and school history and report these findings to state psychologist, Dr. Tricia Aiken, and a seven-person panel, of which Eckstrom was a member. Dr. Aiken and the seven-person panel would give their recommendations to Judge Carter whether or not to try Bond as an adult.

When Dalton Ford and Tayler Garza were killed, Bond was currently on probation for assault and theft. Bond had also threatened to shoot and kill a Burnsville High School staff member with a gun after a physical altercation at Burnsville High School.

School disciplinary proceedings are protected due to privacy laws and this information would not normally be available; however, when Bond threatened the school district employee, there was a physical altercation and Bond suffered a dislocated shoulder. His family sued the school district for $50,000, but lost the lawsuit. This lawsuit made the information public record.

Eckstrom stated, under oath, she did provide all of her findings of Bond’s prior records to Dr. Aiken, the state psychologist, but did not provide all of the information to the seven-person Extended Jurisdiction Juvenile (EJJ) panel to decide if he was to be tried as an adult.

The EJJ panel looks at six factors, with a defendant’s prior record being factor number three, in its decision. The EJJ panel decided by a vote of 4-3 to try Bond as a juvenile. According to State of Minnesota Dakota County appeal records, Dr. Aiken recommended Bond be tried as an adult. Eckstrom’s vote to classify Bond as a juvenile was the deciding vote for the panel. The other six EJJ panel members were not aware of Bond’s past record.

It was decided by Dakota County Court Judge Carter that Bond was to be tried as a juvenile.

If Bond was to be tried as an adult, he could face a maximum penalty of up to 318 months (over 26 years) in prison. Being charged as a juvenile, again, would require a reform program between six and 21 months.

Ford said she asked numerous questions about Eckstrom not providing Bond’s prior history records with the panel. She also requested public records five separate times, only to be given the records after the fifth request. She spoke with Dakota County Director of Community Corrections Marti Fischbach.

“I went up as high as I could go and she (Fischbach) said, ‘moving forward, we’re done responding to your questions.’” “I can promise you,” said Ford, “We are not done.”

The Fords and Garzas have been given advice by Dakota County staff members when to look away or close their eyes during court proceedings.

“They said it would be tough to see,” said Ford, “and that we don’t want our last memory of Dalton and Tayler to be that. I told them it won’t be. My last memory of them is in a coffin.”