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 people from Minnetonka were killed late Friday afternoon when their GMC Suburban ran a stop sign and was struck by a GMC Yukon headed north on Hwy. 169 west of Palisade, Minn.
According to the State Patrol, Marlo Dean Baldwin, 92, and Elizabeth Jane Baldwin, 61, were dead at the scene. The driver of the Suburban, a 61-year-old Minnetonka man, was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The Suburban, pulling a trailer, was headed east on Grove Street/County Rd. 3 at about 5:15 p.m. when it failed to stop at Hwy. 169 and was struck by the northbound Yukon. The Yukon then struck two westbound vehicles stopped at the intersection.
Four people from Zimmerman, Minn., in the Yukon, including the driver, were taken to HCMC with life-threatening injuries, while two passengers were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Three girls in the Yukon ranged in age from 11 to 15.
The drivers of the two vehicles struck by the Yukon were not injured, the State Patrol said. Road conditions were dry at the time of the accident, and alcohol was not believed to have been a factor. All involved in the accident were wearing a seat belt except for Elizabeth Baldwin.
Hill City police and the Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office assisted at the scene.
Amid the cacophony and chaos of the pregame preparation before a recent Minnetonka High School football game, an exceptional group of six girls is gathered together among the school’s deep and talented cheerleading and dance teams.
The cheerleaders, a national championship-winning program of 40 girls, dot the track around the football field. As the clock ticks down to kickoff and their night of choreographed routines begins, the six girls, proudly wearing Minnetonka blue T-shirts emblazoned with “Skippers Nation” and shaking shiny pom-poms, swirl around the track, bristling with excited energy.
Their circumstances are no different from any of the other cheerleaders with one notable exception: The girls on this team have special needs.
They’re members of the Minnetonka Sparklers, a squad of cheerleaders made up solely of girls with special needs.
A football game at Minnetonka High School is an elaborate production. The Skippers’ recent homecoming victory over Shakopee brought an announced crowd of 8,145. And that is just paying attendees; it doesn’t include school staffers, coaches, dance team, marching band, concession workers, media members and others going about their business attached to the game.
The Sparklers program, now in its 12th season, was the brainchild of Marcy Adams, a former Minnetonka cheerleader who initiated the program in her senior year of high school. Adams has been coach of the team since its inception, staying on through her tenure as a cheerleader at the University of Minnesota.
She started the program after experiencing the Unified Sports program at Minnetonka. The unified sports movement at high schools brings together student-athletes with cognitive or physical disabilities and athletes with no disabilities to foster relationships, understanding and compassion through athletics. Many Minnesota schools offer unified sports.
“I grew up in a household that valued students with special needs and valued inclusion,” Adams said. “I saw a need to give to those students. At Minnetonka, we have a strong Unified program, and this was a great opportunity to build relationships and offer mentorship opportunities.”
Elite runners are in a league of their own.
To get a sense of how far ahead elite runners are compared to the rest of us, the Minnesota Star Tribune took a look at how their times compare to the average marathon participant.
The 2022 Twin Cities Marathon men’s winner was Japanese competitor Yuya Yoshida, who ran the marathon in a time of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 28 seconds, for an average speed of 11.96 mph. He averaged 5 minutes and 2 seconds per mile.
That’s more than twice the speed of the average competitor across both the men’s and women’s categories, of 5.89 mph, according to race results site Mtec. The average participant finished in 4 hours, 26 minutes and 56 seconds. That comes out to an average time of 10 minutes and 11 seconds per mile.
And taking it to the most extreme, the fastest-ever marathon runner, Kelvin Kiptum of Kenya, finished the 2023 Chicago Marathon in 2 hours and 35 seconds, for an average pace of about 13 mph. Kiptum averaged 4 minutes and 36 seconds per mile.
Here is a graphic showing these differences in average marathon speed.
