Updated: Two Children Dead, Three Hospitalized After Car Crashes into St. Louis Park Pond

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Zarihana M. Rennie, 6, is still in “very, very critical condition,” Petry said. The other two children, Zenavia C. Rennie, 5, and Alarious Coleman-Guerrido, 7, died on Thursday.

“Words cannot express our grief at the loss of our children,” the children’s family wrote in a statement read by Petry. “As you can only imagine this is our worst nightmare—we cannot even think about life without them and we already miss them very much.”

Petry said that Marion M. Guerrido was taking the children to her mother's house Thursday morning. Petry said he did not know where Guerrido's mother lived.

The Coleman-Guerrido Rennie family had raised more than $2,000 by Friday afternoon to pay for funeral expenses and medical costs through a Give Forward page.

Updated, Nov. 22, 1:24 p.m.: The 1998 four-door Pontiac Grand Am sedan driven into a St. Louis Park holding pond Thursday morning is designed to seat a driver and up to four passengers, Pontiac dealers told St. Louis Park Patch on Friday. 

At the time of the crash, there were six people—Marion M. Guerrido and five children—in the vehicle.

Dan Kelly is a salesman with 18 years of experience at the Golden Valley Pontiac dealership Lupient Buick GMC. He said he’s worked extensively with four-door 1998 Grand Ams and couldn’t imagine how it would be possible to legally seat five children plus a driver.

“You maybe strap two kids in with one buckle, otherwise it’s hard to explain how you get five kids strapped in with four seat belts,” he said.

Lt. Eric Roeske of the Minnesota State Patrol declined to comment on the car's seating capacity or on whether the children were wearing seat belts or were restrained in car seats.

“I haven’t looked at the vehicle personally," he said. "It’s an ongoing investigation.”

Guerrido had a driver's permit, which was invalid since she was not accompanied by a licensed driver.

Two children have died after spending 25 to 45 minutes underwater in the icy lake. The other three children in the car are listed in serious condition.

Updated, Nov. 22, 10:48 p.m. Alarious Coleman-Guerrido, 7, the son of the woman who drove her Pontiac Grand Am into a St. Louis Park holding pond on Thursday, has died, according to the state patrol. 

Coleman-Guerrido spent between 25 and 45 minutes submerged underwater before he was removed from the car and taken to University of Minnesota Amplatz Children's Hospital. Zenavia C. Rennie died Thursday at Hennepin County Medical Center. 

Coleman-Guerrido's mother, Marion M. Guerrido, escaped the car with no apparent injuries, but three other children who were in the car are listed as being in serious condition.

Coleman-Guerido died Thursday evening, according to media reports.

Updated, Nov. 21, 7:55 p.m.: Zenavia C. Rennie, 5, a passenger in the car that crashed into a St. Louis Park holding pond, died Thursday, the state patrol is reporting.

The girl spent between 25 and 45 minutes submerged underwater before she was removed from the car and taken to Hennepin County Medical Center.

The car's driver, Marion M. Guerrido, is dating Rennie's father.

Original story, Nov. 21: A Brooklyn Center woman drove a car carrying five children into a pond early Thursday morning near the area of Highway 7 and northbound Highway 100.

Marion M. Guerrido, 23, was able to escape the car, but the five kids—three of them hers—were taken to Hennepin County Medical Center after being submerged under more than eight feet of water for at least 25 minutes, according to the state patrol and St. Louis Park police.

The first child was removed from the frigid waters about 25 minutes after the car crash. The last victim spent about 45 minutes underwater. All five children are listed as having sustained "serious injury" and are being treated at HCMC and University of Minnesota Amplatz Children's Hospital. 

Guerrido's 1-year-old daughter, Aliyana E. Rennie; her 5-year-old son, Amani N. Coleman-Guerrido; her 7-year-old son, Alarious M. Coleman-Guerrido; and her boyfriend's two daughters, Zenavia C. Rennie, 5, and Zarihana M. Rennie, 6, were pulled out of the car while it was being towed out of the water.

The small, four-door sedan, a 1998 Pontiac Grand Am, went off the ramp from westbound Highway 7 to northbound Highway 100. The tenant of an apartment building to the northeast of the interchange saw or heard the incident and called 911 at 6:16 a.m. 

The vehicle was completely submerged in the holding pond when first responders arrived. 

A rescue effort was already underway by passersby, including Joel Oine of St. Louis Park, but they had not been able to remove any of the children from the pond. 

"A passerby who jumped in the water was standing on the roof of the vehicle and was up to his neck," said Lt. Eric Roeske of the Minnesota State Patrol. "So you're looking at probably 8, 9 feet deep, incredibly cold, nearly freezing temperature water."

Roeske said police are still trying to determine why the car went off the road. The on-ramp has no guard rail between the road and the 40 to 50 yard downward slope into the pond.

The woman had no apparent injuries.

The state patrol, Hennepin County’s water patrol and sheriff's department and St. Louis Park's police and fire departments all responded to the scene.

With reporting by James Warden.