Good Samaritans Stopped on Road to Help Woman After Car Crash. What They Found Inside the Vehicle Was Horrifying By KC Baker 12

An Iowa woman has been convicted of killing her ex-partner, whose body was found in the back seat of a car the woman was driving after she crashed it.

On Monday, a Minnesota jury found Margot Lewis, 33, guilty of two counts of second-degree murder in connection with the 2024 fatal stabbing death of Liara Tsai, 35, a popular DJ in Minneapolis, MPR News reports.

The crime came to light the morning of June 22, 2024, when Lewis crashed Tsai’s car on Interstate 90 in Eyota, Minn., the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office said in a media release.

Two good Samaritans stopped to help Lewis — who was sitting in a lawn chair on the road’s median — and found the body of a dead woman in the back seat, according to the criminal complaint obtained by KSTP.

The body was “wrapped in bedding, a mattress, and covered with a tarp,” according to the criminal complaint, MPR News reports.

Lewis was placed under arrest and charged with interference with a dead body.

After tentatively identifying the victim based on the car’s registration, authorities went to the victim’s residence, where they found “a scene indicating violence,” the release said.

Lewis pleaded not guilty and was held on $1 million bail.

During the trial, prosecutors told the jury that Lewis stabbed Tsai in her bed at her Minneapolis apartment, where she bled to death, MPR News reports. 

Tsai, a popular DJ and suicide hotline volunteer, had just moved to Minneapolis from Iowa when she was killed, her friends told WCCO.

“She was just such a magnetic personality,” said Jaycee Cooper, who met Tsai at an event where she was performing, WCCO reports. “She was one of those people that made you feel welcome and seen.”

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Lewis is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 18. The jury found aggravating factors in the case, which means the judge could sentence her beyond the guidelines set for her, MPR reports.

Lewis’ legal challenges are not over. She is also facing a charge of concealing a dead body in Olmsted County.

Her attorney did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.