Driver charged with murder in killing of Uptown protester Nicholas Kraus allegedly was drunk at the time. June 16, 2021 — 12:37pm Text size Copy shortlink: Prosecutors filed a murder charge Wednesday against an unlicensed driver who admitted he accelerated toward a protest in Uptown in hopes of vaulting over a vehicle that was meant to protect the people he knew were on the other side. Nicholas D. Kraus, 35, of St. Paul, was charged in Hennepin County District Court with second-degree intentional murder and two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon in connection with the crash late Sunday that killed 31-year-old Deona M. Knajdek, of Minneapolis, and injured three other protesters.