Star Tribune
In plea deal met with outrage, no additional incarceration for co-defendant in Minneapolis killing
After rejecting a similar offer in October, a Hennepin County judge accepted a plea deal Thursday that will allow a co-defendant in a deadly northeast Minneapolis carjacking to elude prison time — a decision met by disbelief and outrage by the murdered man’s family.
Steven Markey, a 39-year-old paralegal from Plymouth, was gunned down by two teens in June 2019. One of the teens was sentenced to 21 years in prison. Meanwhile, Husayn Braveheart’s case has been painfully pending for Markey’s family.
In court Thursday, the case came to an abrupt conclusion. Initially scheduled as a routine hearing, it quickly shifted to a plea, then straight to sentencing. Braveheart, now 20, admitted to amended charges of attempted first-degree assault. He was sentenced to serve four years, but his credit for time already served surpasses that.
As she listened to public defenders read over the plea terms with Braveheart, Markey’s mother, Catherine Markey, took off her glasses and her face trembled as she cried.
“He did not assault Steve,” she said to the judge. “He killed him.”
Six weeks ago in an extremely rare move, District Judge Michael Burns rejected a plea deal for Braveheart, who was initially charged with aiding second-degree murder. Under the terms of that proposal, Braveheart would serve up to one year in the county workhouse with five years of probation, during which he would have had to remain law-abiding; otherwise the court could have imposed the same sentence as Ohsman, who prosecutors say fired the shot that killed Markey.
But with the amended charges of first-degree attempted assault, Burns said his judicial discretion does not extend to reject a sentence that conforms to guidelines and pleas.
Burns did express his unease with the deal, though.
“I have great concerns whether the system is doing you a service or disservice,” Burns said to Braveheart, adding that he is unsure if this is “going to lead to more harm to you or someone else.”
To the Markeys, Burns said that he is sorry for their loss. “Frankly, I am also sorry for the way you have been treated during part of this process as well.”
The family said that Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty’s Office repeatedly violated crime victim rights by not giving them timely notice of plea deal offers. They first learned of the amended charge in court Thursday.
Hennepin County Attorney spokesperson Nicholas Kimball said the family refused to meet with staff to hear about the offer.
“Staff attempted multiple times to discuss it with them, beginning as soon as they heard the defense would be making an offer,” Kimball said.
Susan Markey, the victim’s sister and an attorney, countered that there was no “meaningful form of notice.” The office reached out to them at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, and emailed an hour later, then attempted to tell them a half an hour before Thursday’s hearing.
“They didn’t say what the content of the plea agreement would be because they didn’t want us to know in advance,” she said.
When Deputy County Attorney Sarah Davis announced the counter offer of attempted assault, the family burst into incredulous laughter.
On the day of the crime, Braveheart and co-defendant Jered Ohsman drew semiautomatic pistols at Markey near the intersection of 14th Avenue and Tyler Street NE., charges say. At Braveheart was 15 and Ohsman was 17.
Ohsman told police he ordered Markey out of the vehicle and shot him. Braveheart fired at the vehicle as a bleeding Markey drove off. The teens fled and were arrested after crashing a stolen SUV in St. Louis Park.
Brian Markey said numerous bullets were found in his brother’s body.
“This is death of a thousand paper cuts. Which paper cut did it? Apparently we have decided that it is acceptable to commit the ultimate act with impunity and immunity… We are all ashamed. We feel sorry for Mr. Braveheart, we do.
“It’s not good enough and it’s embarrassing,” he said. “This was no attempted assault.”
Moriarty issued a statement Thursday that said, in part, some will agree and disagree with whether this is a fair and just result.
“Mr. Braveheart, a juvenile when he committed this terrible crime, has made enormous strides and been responsive to treatment during the past five years of his incarceration.
“That treatment might have prevented this crime in the first place had he received it, and we believe the treatment will prevent a future crime if it continues, which this sentence allows. As always, our heart goes out to the Markey family, who suffered a terrible tragedy.”
At a news conference, sister Susan Markey said the plea deal “is a political decision by Mary Moriarty.”
“What she did in this case is she amended the charges, so that the judge would not give a sentence beyond what’s available for attempted assault. What it is, it’s an end run around the legislative system and the sentencing guidelines. We’re very disappointed.”
Back in October when Burns rejected the first plea deal, Burns said that he didn’t find Braveheart particularly amenable to probation, as attorneys on both sides had argued throughout a three-hour court hearing.
Burns said while Braveheart agreed to enter two juvenile treatment programs while his case was pending, not all that time was filled with progress. Records show that his treatment has been “punctuated by outbursts, disrespect to staff and other residents, episodes of physical violence and harassment to staff and other residents,” he said.
The family said it was brave of Burns to reject the deal. But his hands we’re tied this time.
Braveheart remains held on $250,000 bail and appears in court Monday for two pending armed robbery cases. In those cases, he and Ohsman are accused of robbing victims of their cars and money in the days leading up to Markey’s murder.
If he posts bail, he could be released as early as Monday.
Braveheart hung his head throughout the hearing. He addressed the court before Burns sentenced him to time-served.
“Tomorrow is uncertain. But I’m here today. To the Markey family, I’m telling you my feelings do not change no matter what. I’m sorry. I wish there was a word I could find to express my emotions. But I am sorry. That is all.”
This is a developing news story. Come back to Startribune.com for more details.
Two men are dead and one woman was injured in a shooting at a homeless encampment in south Minneapolis on Sunday afternoon, police said. It was the second shooting at a Minneapolis encampment this weekend.
At about 2:20 p.m. Sunday, police responded to a reported shooting in the 4400 block of Snelling Avenue near the railroad tracks at the small encampment between Snelling and Hiawatha avenues. At the scene, officers found two men with fatal gunshot wounds, said Sgt. Garrett Parten Minneapolis Police spokesman. Responders rendered aid, but both men died at the scene.
A woman was found at the scene with life-threatening injuries and was taken to a local hospital where she was being treated Sunday night, he said. Police have yet to say whether the three were living at the encampment.
Officers detained three people, who Parten said have since been released after police found they were not believed to be involved in the shooting. No suspects had been identified as of 6:30 p.m. Sunday.
The shooting is the second at a southside homeless encampment this weekend. One man died and two were critically injured early Saturday at an encampment shooting near E. 21st Street and 15th Avenue S. On Sunday, the man was identified as Deven Leonard Caston, 31, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office.
“We don’t know if there’s a connection between this homeless encampment shooting and the one that occurred yesterday,” Parten said on Sunday. “That is a consideration of the investigation. We can’t rule it out.”
Ward 12 Council Member Aurin Chowdhury, who represents the area and lives nearby, was at the site of the shooting Sunday afternoon. She said officials need information about what happened to better understand how to address situations like this long-term.
“This is an absolute tragedy, and this type of violence should never occur within our city,” she said. “It really makes me think about how we need to look at this more systemically and not just take a whack-a-mole approach and expect the problem to go away.
During Sunday’s Twitch stream, Walz and Ocasio-Cortez played Madden while discussing making homebuying more accessible, building affordable housing, eliminating student loan debt and raising the federal minimum wage.
After the match, Walz showed off his Sega skills in a round of “Crazy Taxi,” the Y2K-era racing game where gamers play as a taxi driver picking up passengers and taking them to their destination for cash.
Walz called himself a “first-generation gamer” and recalled playing “Crazy Taxi” when he bought a Sega Dreamcast. He also mentioned the Minnesota Star Tribune’s coverage of how his old game console was sold and ended up with a Plymouth resident, who still has it.
Afterward, Walz and Ocasio-Cortez watched a short clip of Trump denying on Rogan’s podcast that he lost the 2020 presidential election. Democrat Joe Biden won that year.
Ocasio-Cortez during the livestream also showed viewers her farm on the cozy, indie game Stardew Valley. Walz said the game reminded him of Minnesota: “You’ve got mining,” he said. “You’ve got agriculture. You’ve got snow.”
Before Walz headed out to a rally in Nevada, he pleaded with viewers to vote. More than 12,000 viewers tuned into the livestream on Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitch channel. More watched from Harris’ channel.
”Hey guys, they’re now scrambling and trying to call us Nazis and fascists,” said Alina Habba, one of Trump’s attorneys, who draped a sparkly ”MAGA” jacket over the lectern as she spoke. ”And you know what they’re claiming, guys? It’s very scary. They’re claiming we’re going to go after them and try and put them in jail. Well, ain’t that rich?”
Declared Hogan in his characteristic raspy growl: ”I don’t see no stinkin’ Nazis in here.”
Trump has denounced the four criminal indictments brought against him as politically motivated. He has ramped up his denunciations in recent weeks of ”enemies from within,” naming domestic political rivals, and suggested he would use the military to go after them. Harris, in turn, has called Trump a ”fascist.”
The arena was full hours before Trump was scheduled to speak. Outside the arena, the sidewalks were overflowing with Trump supporters in red ”Make America Great Again” hats. There was a heavy security presence. Streets were blocked off and access to Penn Station was restricted.
In the crowd was Philip D’Agostino, a longtime Trump backer from Queens, the borough where Trump grew up. The 64-year-old said it was appropriate for Trump to be speaking at a place bills itself as ”the world’s most famous arena.”
”It just goes to show ya that he has a bigger following of any man that has ever lived,” D’Agostino said.
