Star Tribune
Judge rejects gag order in teen’s Brooklyn Park home invasion murder case
A Hennepin County judge on Monday denied a proposed gag order in the murder case against a 15-year-old boy accused of shooting Zaria McKeever five times during a Brooklyn Park home invasion last fall, but strongly encouraged the victim’s family to limit statements to the media.
In an hourlong hearing which was closed to the press, Judge Todd Fellman advised that continuing to speak out publicly on the case could endanger the teen’s ability to secure a fair trial.
It marked the second court appearance since Gov. Tim Walz agreed to appoint Attorney General Keith Ellison to the criminal case. That move came after backlash to a controversial plea deal that Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty offered to two teenage brothers accused of gunning down the young mother as part of a plot devised by her ex-boyfriend, Erick Haynes.
On Monday afternoon, McKeever’s relatives arrived at the Juvenile Justice Center in downtown Minneapolis, hoping Fellman might reject the plea deal outright. No decisions were made. Instead, he continued the case until May 26.
Family members were notified over the weekend that the boy’s defense team was seeking a gag order in the high-profile case to maintain their client’s right to fair trial. They expressed frustration at the move.
“There’s been more Mary in the news the last couple weeks than [us],” said McKeever’s stepfather, Paul Greer. “The AG has not been saying anything, for the most part.”
Greer and other supporters declined to comment further, citing the judge’s admonition.
Assistant Minnesota Attorney General Erin Eldridge, who took over as lead prosecutor in the case, and the teen’s attorney, Mike Holland, both declined to comment.
Hennepin County prosecutors agreed not to seek a conviction in adult court for the teenagers, ages 15 and 17, and spare them lengthy prison sentences in exchange for testifying against Haynes. Each boy was offered approximately two years at a juvenile facility in Red Wing and extended probation until their 21st birthdays — a deal that McKeever’s relatives decried as a miscarriage of justice and Ellison later criticized as “inappropriate.”
Moriarty has held firm in her position that she was following the science on adolescent brain development and denounced intervention by state leaders as an “undemocratic” overreach. The teen’s attorney, Mike Holland, also rebuked the move in a recent court hearing, reportedly calling it “a hostile takeover.”
Juvenile proceedings for those younger than 16 years old at the time of their felony offense are not open to the public.
The Star Tribune generally does not identify minors that young unless they are charged as adults.
The boy’s older brother, 17-year-old John Kamara, already accepted the plea agreement and is serving time in Red Wing.
Leah Erickson, the assistant Hennepin County attorney who voluntarily removed herself from the case in protest following Moriarty’s decision to not seek an adult conviction, has accepted a job with Ellison’s office, according to two sources with knowledge of the decision. It’s not immediately clear whether she will be assigned to help prosecute the alleged shooter.
The Lynx are in the hot seat.
The team lost Game 3 of the WNBA Finals series against the New York Liberty on Wednesday night 77-80, setting the stage for a decisive match at Target Center on Friday night. Fans in the arena reacted with resounding disappointment after Sabrina Ionescu sunk a three-pointer to break away from the tie game and dashed the Lynx’s chance at forcing overtime.
Before we get to the reactions, first things first: The Lynx set an attendance record, filling Target Center with 19,521 spectators for the first time in franchise history. That’s nearly 500 more than when Caitlin Clark was in town with the Indiana Fever earlier this year.
Despite leading by double digits for much of the game, the Lynx began the fourth quarter with a one-point lead over the Liberty and struggled to stay more than two or three points ahead throughout.
The Liberty took the lead with minutes to go in the fourth quarter and folks were practically despondent.
Of course, there were people who were in it solely for the spectacle. Nothing more.
The Lynx took a commanding lead early in the first quarter and ended the first half in winning position, setting a particularly jovial mood among the fanbase to start the game.
Inside Target Center, arena announcers spent a few minutes before the game harassing Lynx fans — and Liberty fans — who had not yet donned the complementary T-shirts draped over every seat.
DULUTH – The Minnesota and Wisconsin transportation departments will make upgrades to the Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge in the summer of 2025, in preparation for the structure to become the premiere route between this city and Superior during reconstruction of the Blatnik Bridge.
Built in 1961, the Blatnik Bridge carries 33,000 vehicles per day along Interstate 535 and Hwy. 53. It will be entirely rebuilt, starting in 2027, with the help of $1 billion in federal funding announced earlier this year. MnDOT and WisDOT are splitting the remaining costs of the project, about $4 million each.
According to MnDOT, projects on the Bong Bridge will include spot painting, concrete surface repairs to the bridge abutments, concrete sealer on the deck, replacing rubber strip seal membranes on the main span’s joints and replacing light poles on the bridge and its points of entry. It’s expected to take two months, transportation officials said during a recent meeting at the Superior Public Library.
During this time there will be occasional lane closures, detours at the off-ramps, and for about three weeks the sidewalk path alongside the bridge will be closed.
The Bong Bridge, which crosses the St. Louis River, opened to traffic in 1985 and is the lesser-used of the two bridges. Officials said they want to keep maintenance to a minimum on the span during the Blatnik project, which is expected to take four years.
Red Wing will celebrate the grand opening of its first permanent set of pickleball courts next week with an “inaugural play” on the six courts at Colvill Park on the banks of the Mississippi, between a couple of marinas and next to the aquatic center.
Among the first to get to play on the new courts will be David Anderson, who brought pickleball to the local YMCA in 2008, before the nationwide pickleball craze took hold, and Denny Yecke, at 92 the oldest pickleball player in Red Wing.
The inaugural play begins at 11 a.m. Tuesday, with a rain date of the next day. Afterward will be food and celebration at the Colvill Park Courtyard building.
Tim Sletten, the city’s former police chief, discovered America’s fastest-growing sport a decade ago after he retired. With fellow members of the Red Wing Pickleball Group, he’d play indoors at the local YMCA or outdoors at a local school, on courts made for other sports. But they didn’t have a permanent place, so they approached the city about building one.
When a city feasibility study came up with a high cost, about $350,000, Sletten’s group got together to raise money.
The courts are even opening ahead of schedule, originally set for 2025.
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