Kare11
Murder victim’s family speaks out over plea deal with no prison
Steve Markey, 39, was killed when two teen suspects tried to carjack him in June 2019. One defendant received 21 years in prison, the other could receive probation.
MINNEAPOLIS — A proposed plea deal in Hennepin County has a murder victim’s family speaking out.
Steve Markey was shot to death four years ago, as two teens allegedly tried to carjack him. One teenage suspect received 21 years in prison. The other, if the plea goes through, will receive probation.
Markey’s family says they didn’t learn of the proposed plea deal from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office until Friday, and the plea was supposed to go through at a Monday morning hearing.
But at Monday’s hearing, Judge Michael Burns delayed the plea until Friday Aug. 4, at which point he’ll allow them to speak in court before suspect Husayn Braveheart pleads.
Steve Markey was a paralegal who worked for his mom, criminal defense attorney Catherine Markey.
“I always say he was my fun child. So that’s always nice to have someone fun in your office,” Catherine said.
The 39-year-old who specialized in helping low-level offenders get their records expunged was growing his hair out for Locks of Love when he was killed in June 2019 in Northeast Minneapolis.
“We always say we wish we all were shot. It would have been better if they shot us too, than to live without him,” his sister Susan Markey said.
Jared Ohsman, who was 16 at the time, was certified as an adult, pleaded guilty to murder in 2020, and was sentenced to 21 years in prison.
But the Markey family learned Friday that Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty is offering a plea deal to Husayn Braveheart, who’s now 20, but was 15 when charged with murder.
Under the proposed deal, he would receive five years probation with a suspended prison sentence hanging over his head if he violates the terms.
“She repeatedly told us he is a different person than the person that murdered my brother, which is one of the most insulting things I’ve ever heard because we are all different people in a fundamental and horrible way that I hope no one else has to experience,” Susan said.
“I feel very much for the family. I talked to them at great length on Friday. I felt their anger, I felt their grief – and – my job is to listen to them but ultimately do what is in the best interest of public safety,” Moriarty said.
Braveheart’s case has been delayed for the last four years as it was appealed to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which ruled he should be certified as an adult.
Moriarty says that in those four years, Braveheart has turned his life around by receiving programming while incarcerated.
“It’s really important that we not disrupt that progress in that treatment, and I think that’s in the best interest of public safety,” Moriarty said.
Moriarty says sending Braveheart to prison would ultimately be a bigger threat to public safety once he’s released than continuing treatment while on probation because the Minnesota Department of Corrections would not be able to offer the same kind of rehabilitation treatment that was ordered by a judge during Braveheart’s certification hearings.
But Markey’s mom and sister — both attorneys robbed of a life with Steve — don’t believe the public will be safer with one of Steve’s alleged killers released.
“If you can get to be a killer at age 15, you don’t magically become someone else a few years later,” Catherine said.
According to the criminal complaint, Braveheart fired at Markey but it was a shot fired by his co-defendant, Jared Ohsman, that killed him.
The attorneys for the public defender’s office representing Braveheart said in a statement: “This plea agreement reflects the specific facts of this case, our client’s extraordinary efforts towards rehabilitation, and well-established evidence on adolescent brain science.”
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist:
WATCH MORE ON KARE 11+
Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11’s newscasts. You’ll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
The newly elected board unanimously accepted it during a special board meeting Thursday night.
BURNSVILLE, Minn — STEP Academy officials said the school is taking steps to pay off its debt after letting go teachers, administrators, and people who worked in operations to balance their budget.
“We’re very sad we had to reduce our budget based on our enrollment but that was a necessary step so that we could stay financially secure,” said Paul Scanlon, STEP Academy’s chief operations officer.
Scanlon corrected a statement made by the St. Paul charter school’s finance director on Monday who said the school has an operating budget deficit of $2.1 million.
“It’s projected by the end of the year that it will roughly – 2.1% of our overall budget. It’s not 2.1 thousand or 2.1 million,” Scanlon said.
He said that’s roughly $275,000, which is how much debt the charter school will have by the end of the academic year.
“Through careful financing, we’ve been able to pay off some of our debt and get that number lower and lower,” he said.
Scanlon said under the Minnesota Department of Education, a school must be at least -2.5% to be considered in statutory operational debt.
The newly elected board started on Monday. Scanlon said there was some confusion about their appointment, but he said the plan was to seat them at their annual meeting on Oct. 21. He said all of the new board members were elected to their positions.
“Candidates nominated or being nominated for the positions to expand the expertise and size our of board took several weeks of getting the nominations and having ballots prepared,” he said.
The board unanimously voted to accept Superintendent Mustafa Ibrahim’s resignation. He said his last day will be Nov. 4. In his letter, he said “my time leading STEP Academy has been the most rewarding period of my career.”
Scanlon said they will not be looking for an immediate replacement.
“At this time based on our finances, based on the strength that we’re seeing from our two principals on both sites, we feel like we can cover many of those components and then we would look to post for the 25-26 school year,” he said.
The board also approved an Ad Hoc committee’s report on the job description of the superintendent of educational services for when they do hire someone for that role.
The board unanimously voted to postpone filling two school board vacancies until they have appointed a chair, vice chair, secretary, and treasurer. They’ll discuss it again at their next meeting, and possibly decide how they want to fill those seats.
“We’re 50 ahead of where we were, 50 deaths,” Mike Hanson said. “50 families who have lost a loved one more than we were at this time last year.”
MINNEAPOLIS — It’s a frustrating trend for Mike Hanson, director of the Office of Traffic Safety within the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
“Anytime I see an incident like the one that took place last night, I’m angry,” Hanson said. “It’s really hard to put into words, because this is exactly the type of thing that we work to prevent.”
Wednesday night, a 29-year-old man from St. Paul exited eastbound I-94 onto Lyndale Avenue in Minneapolis. The crash report says that man was traveling at a “high rate of speed.” That man hit several cars, killing a 26-year-old Minneapolis woman and injuring several others.
“That is the one thing that makes every bad decision worse, because speed brings energy, and energy is what results in injury and death,” Hanson said.
Data provided by DPS shows that there have been nearly 150 accidents in and near the area where this happened since January 2021. Some don’t involve alcohol, some do. Hanson said it’s their goal to make sure alcohol is never a factor.
“There is literally no excuse today for somebody to wind up in the back seat of a squad car, an ambulance or heaven forbid a hearse, because of an impaired driving decision,” he said.
Unfortunately, data shows that fatal accidents are up in Minnesota so far this year.
“We’re 50 ahead of where we were, 50 deaths,” Hanson said. “50 families who have lost a loved one more than we were at this time last year.”
Hanson said they work with different agencies across the state to help assist with education and prevention before anyone gets behind the wheel impaired.
“Our basic message is impaired is impaired. It doesn’t matter what it is that you’re impaired by, if you feel different, you will drive different,” he said. “And if you’re sitting behind the wheel and you have to ask yourself should I drive? It’s already too late.”
Police said the suspect in an alleged armed burglary is described similarly to someone who was reportedly looking into windows in the city earlier the same day.
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — Police in Brooklyn Park are urging residents to make sure their windows and doors are locked after an alleged armed burglary in the city on Thursday.
According to police, residents on the 1700 block of 73rd Ave N. were coming home around 7:30 p.m. when they discovered a man in their home. The man pointed a gun at them and then fled, officials said.
The suspect is described by law enforcement as Black, 5’9 or 5’10, a skinny build, with a beard. He was reportedly wearing a black hoodie and pants.
Police said a man with a similar description was reportedly looking into windows and trying door handles around the 7500 block of Newton Ave N and Meadowwood Drive earlier on Thursday. In that case, the suspect was wearing a black hoodie with white lettering, a black coat with red sleeves, and light-colored pants, officials said.
“In light of these incidents, Brooklyn Park Police are urging residents in the area to ensure that all windows and doors are securely locked,” an alert from police said, adding if anyone notices “suspicious activity” they should call 911.
Brooklyn Center Police had similar sightings as well, according to law enforcement.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings