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AG Ellison to take over prosecution in murder of Zaria McKeever

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In a statement Thursday, Ellison said he had requested Moriarty’s office refer the prosecution of the case to his office, but he was turned down.

MINNEAPOLIS — Editors Note: The above video first aired on 4/6/2023

Just one day after publicly disagreeing with Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty’s handling of a juvenile murder case, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has agreed to take over prosecution in the matter, at the request of Gov. Tim Walz and against the will of Moriarty.

“I have absolute confidence in Attorney General Ellison,” Governor Walz said in a release.  “He has requested this important case and stepped up once again to serve the people of Minnesota. I know Keith will work tirelessly to seek justice and bring a modicum of peace to the grieving family.” 

Zaria McKeever was shot to death in her apartment last November — allegedly by a 15-year-old, who along with his 17-year-old brother kicked in her apartment door. McKeever’s ex-boyfriend Erick Haynes allegedly gave them the gun and drove them there.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office under Mike Freeman moved to certify the boys as adults to be tried for murder alongside Haynes, but after Moriarty became Hennepin County Attorney, her office changed course — offering the boys a plea bargain to serve two years in the Red Wing juvenile prison and testify against Haynes. 

Ellison appeared at a community event on Wednesday, where he proclaimed his disagreement with Moriarty’s handling of the case. 

McKeever’s family had already requested Ellison to take the case from Moriarty and expressed worry on Wednesday that he wouldn’t fulfill his promise to them.

“You were our last hope. You gave us hope when we met with you,” said McKeever’s stepfather Paul Greer at the event.

In a statement Thursday, Ellison said he had requested Moriarty’s office refer the prosecution of the case to his office, but he was turned down. 

“While I share the belief that too many juveniles are involved in the adult criminal justice system, accountability for the seriousness of this crime has been missing in this case. I respect that county attorneys are duly elected by their constituents to exercise their discretion; however, the disposition of the juvenile shooter that Hennepin County has proposed in this case is disproportionate to the seriousness of the crime committed and falls far short of the family’s and community’s expectations for justice and safety,” said Ellison, in his statement.

Moriarty issued her own statement Thursday afternoon, saying her office considered the factors of youth and what protects public safety in both the short and the long term. 

“Prosecuting a juvenile for homicide without seeking an adult certification is not unprecedented in Minnesota. But the Attorney General’s decision to insert himself in a prosecution when an elected County Attorney is actively prosecuting a case is unprecedented,” said Moriarty in the statement.

Moriarty added that Ellison’s action to insert his office into the case undermines the longstanding constitutional authority, autonomy, and responsibility of elected prosecutors. 

“I am sure that the Attorney General has disagreed with many outcomes in many cases in this state over the years, some because the sentences are too low and some because the sentences are too harsh. It is unfortunate that, in what has become a very high-profile case, he has decided to instigate an unprecedented intervention.” concludes Moriarty’s statement.

The move truly is an 11th-hour decision, as the 15-year-old was set to enter into the plea agreement Friday morning in juvenile court. Ellison’s team rather than Moriarty’s team will now attend that hearing, and the judge is likely to continue the matter to a later date.

Although some county attorneys across the state disagree with how Moriarty was handling the juvenile case, the Minnesota County Attorney’s Association disagreed with Walz using his power to take the case away from an elected county attorney actively prosecuting it.

Ellison ended up taking over the prosecution of the Derek Chauvin and Kim Potter cases, but in both those instances the county attorney voluntarily asked for assistance.

Minnesota’s governor has only once exercised the statutory ability to involuntarily remove a case from a county attorney.

In 1993 in Crow Wing County, Jack Graham was refusing to prosecute child sex abuse cases. Gov. Arne Carlson assigned the attorney general’s office to intervene at the request of the county sheriff and other officials.

Prior to formally asking Gov. Walz to assign him the case, Ellison wrote a letter to Judge Todd Fellman, who is presiding over the 15-year-old’s case, and asked Judge Fellman to reject Moriarty’s plea offer.

In the letter obtained by KARE 11 News, dated April 4, Ellison spells out more clearly how he disagrees with Moriarty’s characterization of the case. She emphasizes that the teens were influenced and manipulated by Haynes, the adult in the case.

But Ellison wrote, “This criminal act was developing for weeks and [the 15-year-old] had time to reflect and ask questions. [The 15-year-old] accepted a gun, a deadly weapon, and voluntarily discharged the gun. And, most heinous of all, [the 15-year-old] knew the decedent and he knew her daughter. This is not a case of a juvenile being manipulated. [The 15-year-old] knowingly and voluntarily killed the decedent.”

Ellison adds that “any offender who commits such a horrible murder should serve years in prison” and “the court should not allow [the 15-year-old] to avoid punishment and then terrorize the McKeever family and the rest of the community.”

Legal experts have told KARE 11 News that Judge Fellman does not have authority to reject a plea in an extended juvenile jurisdiction prosecution, which might have played a role in Ellison stepping in.

Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries



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Saint Paul police investigate fatal stabbing

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Police said it happened on North Dale Street.

ST PAUL, Minn — Police in Saint Paul are trying to find out what led up to a fatal stabbing in the city. 

In a post on social media Sunday night, authorities said it happened on the 300 block of N. Dale Steet. That’s just south of I-94 in the Summit-University neighborhood. 

Police have not yet provided any other details about the homicide investigation. 

This is a developing story, stick with KARE 11 for updates.



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Minnesota cities extend early voting hours

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Over 71,000 people have voted early in Anoka County, Minnesota.

ANOKA COUNTY, Minn. — Minnesota cities extended early voting hours so more people could cast their ballot early.

Anoka County Elections Director Tom Hunt said there’s a lot of excitement around this election.

“In-person absentee voting is just off the charts,” he said. “This year both parties have really been making a push to get people into vote early.”

He said the county’s city and town halls are busier than the county government center.

“We’ve seen lines like crazy at all of our city and town halls,” he said. “We just passed 71,000 absentee voters, so I think for us that’s a little over 30%,” he said.

Trevor and Michala Voss voted at Blaine City Hall.

“We wanted to come out and vote early because we both work and it’s a good day to get it done, get through the line before it gets too crazy on Tuesday and make sure our voices are heard,” Michala said. “Especially, as a pregnant woman with a daughter, it’s important for us to show that we can vote and our voices matter.”

RELATED: 2024 Voter Guide: What to know about Minnesota’s elections

They decided to bring their young daughter to show her how the election process works.

“She loved it. I thought it was really cool that she got to see it in person because she’s seen it in cartoons on her Daniel Tiger episodes and now she got to see what the process looked like in person,” Michala said.

Trevor said the show teaches kids how to vote. For example, in one episode the class had to decide if they wanted a swing or a slide, so they voted.

Now, their daughter wants to cast her own ballot.

“She sat on his lap while he voted and wanted to put her own votes in but she’s a little too young,” Michala said.

“That was a little challenging but not terrible,” Trevor said.

They both said voting early was easy and they didn’t mind the wait. They said it took about 20 minutes for them to vote.

“Nobody wants to wait especially on a weekend, those weekend days our precious but they understand, and they know how important it is and they’re absolutely willing to do it,” said Blaine City Clerk Cathy Sorensen. “It’s about a 30-to-40-minute wait. We’ve calculated yesterday at our peak we were probably processing a voter every three minutes.”

RELATED: Here’s how to see what’s on your ballot in Minnesota

Sorensen said they’ve had over 7,300 early voters come through city hall. She said they’re processing almost 1,000 ballots a day.

“Right now, we’re about 18% of our total registered voters and that’s right now and we haven’t obviously done a tally or our mailed in ballots, we haven’t finished up today and of course tomorrow which is going to be our busiest,” Sorensen said.

She said they have been so busy her election judges barely have time to take a break.

“Last two weeks they really haven’t even taken a lunch,” she said.

She said all of her election judges are committed to helping as many people vote early as they can and choose to eat when they can.

Sorensen has been the city’s clerk for a decade, and she hasn’t seen so many people vote early in an election.

“I think it just means people are taking advantage of all the different ways you can vote whether it’s on Election Day, or early, they have lots of options and that’s great and it’s how it should be,” Sorensen said.

She said she anticipates Monday being their busiest early voting day and plans to have extra staff on hand to help keep the line moving.

RELATED: How to watch KARE 11’s live coverage on Election Night 2024



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Local volunteers for both campaigns make final push

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With the election seemingly razor-thin, volunteers will continue working until the final ballot is cast.

MINNEAPOLIS — With only a few days left until Election Day, volunteers from both campaigns are doing what they can during the final push.

On Saturday, Kamala Harris supporters canvassed in north Minneapolis. They knocked on doors encouraging those who hadn’t voted yet, to do so. 

In Lakeville, Trump supporters gathered with Congressional District 2 candidates, as they geared up to reach those final voters.

“Donald Trump lost by a small margin here in Minnesota and we want that to be different this year, this time around,” said Crystal Mcdonnell. Mcdonnell canvases not only to try and sway voters to Trump but also to help them fulfill their civic duty.

“(We) offer assistance in registering to vote, give rides to fellow patriots who may not have the means to get out and vote,” Mcdonnell said.

In north Minneapolis, first-time canvasser Samirya Strong was doing her part to help her candidate win.

“We need to activate everyone who is able to vote, to vote up and down for freedom and justice and equality for all,” Strong said.

With the election seemingly razor thin, this type of leg work from both campaigns will continue until the final ballot is cast Tuesday night.

RELATED: Everything you need to know before casting your ballot



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