A 26-year-old passenger who died when she was trapped after a crash in St. Paul loved her four young children more than anything, her mother said Wednesday.
Qiara Gleason, whose nickname was Keke, was on her way home when the 35-year-old who was driving crashed and the vehicle started on fire.
Qiara “Keke” Gleason, 26, was the passenger in a single-vehicle crash on Nov. 2, 2025, at Arlington and Prosperity avenues. She died at the scene. (Courtesy of the family)
“Qiara didn’t deserve this, and for her children to grow up without a mom is unreal to me,” said her mother, Nichole Castile.
Officers responded about 3:25 a.m. Sunday to Arlington and Prosperity avenues to a single-vehicle crash. The vehicle was fully engulfed in flames and was on the grass with heavy front-end damage.
The driver, who had a leg injury, was lying behind the vehicle. She reported she’d tried to get Gleason out, but had not been able to, police have said.
St. Paul Fire Department medics took the driver to the hospital with a non-life threatening injury to her leg. She was unable to complete field sobriety tests, due to her injury, and police obtained a search warrant for medical staff to draw her blood for testing, according to police. Results are pending.
Daughter asking ‘Where’s my mom?’
The woman driving was an acquaintance of Gleason’s, Castile said. She said she wants answers about what happened in the crash and for the driver to be charged.
Gleason “had a bright smile,” her mother said. “She was a loving person. … God blessed me with her.”
Gleason’s oldest child, a girl, will turn 4 this weekend. She was also the mother to a 1-year-old son and 6-month-old twin boys.
Gleason’s daughter has been asking, “Where’s my mom? I want to go home with my mom.” Castile has been struggling with what to say. “How are you supposed to tell a kid at that age that your mama ain’t coming back?”
Relatives have started a GoFundMe (gofund.me/ec4673213), which says donations will “help support the care and daily needs of her four children as they adjust to life without their mom.” Funds will go to Castile as she raises Gleason’s children.
The family has experienced tragedy in the past. Gleason’s first cousin was Philando Castile, 32, who a St. Anthony police officer fatally shot during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights in 2016.
Gleason’s older sister, Rene Gleason, died at 31 in 2017. She was an innocent bystander when she was wounded in a shooting in Minneapolis three years earlier, was prescribed painkillers, and became dependent on them.
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