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Man Pleads Guilty to Vehicular Manslaughter of Fergus Falls Woman

By Derek Sidian May 9, 2025 | 11:50 AM

Dillon Church (Stearns County Sheriff’s Office)

Breckenridge, MN – A man from Parkers Prairie has pleaded guilty to the vehicular homicide of a woman from Fergus Falls.

Prosecutors say 31-year-old Dillon Todd Church was high on drugs in the crash near Breckenridge last October that killed 83-year-old Gisela Tervola. State Troopers say Church drove into the opposing lane of traffic on State Highway 210 when he was looking at his phone and crashed into Tervola’s vehicle, killing her.

Church was brought to Sanford in Fargo for injuries and initially refused a blood draw. Later, a blood sample was taken via warrant and given to the Minnesota BCA. Church’s blood tested .167 mg of amphetamine per liter of blood and 1.07 mg of meth per liter.

Two months after the crash, a warrant was issued for Church and he was arrested. The accident was not the first time Church has been arrested in relation to drugs. In 2024 alone, Church was arrested three times in Douglas County for drug related or DWI charges. Those cases are still open.

In Wilkin County court on Thursday, Church changed his plea to guilty for one charge of Vehicular Manslaughter and one charge of Driving While Under the Influence of Drugs. This comes as part of a plea deal with the State Prosecutor, the details of which are not public at this time. Church is set to be sentenced on July 22nd.

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