Star Tribune
In hearing punctuated with tears, orchestrator of Zaria McKeever killing gets life in prison
In a packed courtroom punctuated with emotion, the man who orchestrated the home invasion and killing of his ex-girlfriend by a pair of teenage brothers was sentenced to life in prison Friday, bringing to an end the latest chapter in a case that drew outrage from relatives and community members, who successfully pressed for intervention by Gov. Tim Walz.
Erick Haynes received the sentence for first-degree intentional murder while committing a felony less than two weeks after he pled guilty for his role in 23-year-old Zara McKeever’s shooting death. Haynes, 23, was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder and charged with two counts of aiding and abetting second-degree murder in the killing of McKeever, the mother of his child. The remaining murder counts were dismissed at sentencing. Haynes will be eligible for parole after 30 years.
McKeever’s family members looked on as Judge William Koch delivered the sentence following a string of tearful victim impact statements. Her mother, Maria Greer, recalled the devastation of learning that a man who once called her “Mom” had plotted her child’s death.
“Zaria sure as hell didn’t deserve this fate,” said Greer, as a slideshow flashed with McKeever’s pictures on a large screen TV beside her. “He was supposed to love her, take care of her,” she said, pausing as her voice strained with emotion. “Protect her!” a supporter interjected from the audience.
Attorney General Keith Ellison sat watching from the gallery, where two dozen supporters wiped their eyes.
“Zaria had so much life ahead of her. It was stolen out of pure hate, evil, and jealousy,” said McKeever’s older sister, Tiffynnie Epps. “He is a coward. My sister was the best thing that happened to his whole family and when he realized he couldn’t use her anymore, he disposed of her.”
Haynes sat quietly, eyes fixed down, never meeting the gaze of from people he used to consider family. When given a chance to address the court, Haynes stood and told the judge: “I just wanna say sorry to the family of Ms. McKeever.”
All five of the people involved in McKeever’s killing have now pled guilty to their roles in the slaying or to protecting Haynes after the fact.
Foday Kevin Kamara, 17, of Brooklyn Park, pled guilty March 22 to aiding and abetting second-degree intentional murder and is expected to receive a 10-year sentence. He admitted to killing McKeever alongside his older brother, John Kamara, then 17, at the behest of Haynes, who armed the teens and drove them in his sister’s car to the apartment of McKeever’s new boyfriend. Foday, then just 15, unleashed a flurry shots after the brothers broke the door down and confronted McKeever. She was struck five times at close range.
John Kamara accepted a plea deal offer from Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty last March before Ellison took over prosecution. After mounting pressure from McKeever’s family over Moriarty’s plea deal offers that would spare the teens prison time and were decried as too lenient, Gov. Tim Walz reassigned the case to Ellison at his request.
Moriarty offered the brothers a deal to avoid adult prison and adult certification. John Kamara accepted it before Ellison and Walz intervened on Foday’s case. John agreed to serve about a two-year sentence at the juvenile correctional facility in Red Wing and be placed on a form of extended probation that holds an adult sentence over his head until he’s 21.
Haynes’ sister and brother-in-law are also charged with felony aiding an offender after the fact. Koch conditionally accepted guilty pleas from Eriana and Tavion James, both 24, in the hours following Haynes’ guilty plea April 1, just before he was slated to go to trial.
Haynes’ Friday sentencing followed a prayer vigil at Shiloh Temple in north Minneapolis, where 25 supporters gathered to honor the young mother’s all-too-brief life. Loved ones clutched framed photos and wore pins displaying McKeever’s smiling face and reflected on their hard-fought battle to find justice over the last 16 months.
The family wanted longer sentences, particularly for the juveniles who pulled the trigger on Nov. 8, 2022, but thanked the Attorney General’s office for taking up the case and securing tougher sanctions for everyone involved in the home invasion.
“These are results we can live with,” said her stepfather, Paul Greer. He and Maria are left to raise their 2 ½-year-old granddaughter, Zanay-Dior, who’s forced to grow up without either parent.
“We can’t replace her mother, but we can show her love she would’ve wanted us to.”
This is a breaking news story. Check back at Startribune.com for updates.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation closed part of a state highway Wednesday evening near Austin because of a “major hazardous materials release” in the area.
Hwy. 56 from Hayfield to Waltham, a stretch covering about five miles, was closed in both directions and drivers were directed to follow a detour to Blooming Prairie on U.S. Hwy. 218.
No information on the hazardous materials released was immediately available.
A federal judge dismissed a civil lawsuit against Minnesota state trooper Ryan Londregan in the shooting death of Ricky Cobb II during a 2023 traffic stop.
The decision is the latest development in a case that has drawn heated debate over excessive use of force by law enforcement. Criminal charges against Londregan were dismissed by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty in June, saying the prosecution didn’t have the evidence to proceed with a case.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel granted Londregan’s motion to dismiss the civil suit, arguing he acted reasonably when he opened fire as Cobb’s vehicle lurched forward with another state trooper partly inside.
Londregan’s attorney Chris Madelsaid Wednesday that it’s been a “long, grueling journey to justice. Ryan Londregan has finally arrived.”
On July 31, 2023, the two troopers pulled over Cobb, 33, on Interstate 94 in north Minneapolis for driving without taillights and later learned he was wanted for violating a felony domestic no-contact order. Cobb refused commands to exit the car.
With Seide partly inside the car while trying to unbuckle Cobb’s seatbelt, the car moved forward. Londregan then opened fire, hitting Cobb twice.
In her decision, Brasel said the troopers were mandated by state law to make an arrest given Cobb’s domestic no-contact order violation. She said it was objectively reasonable for Londregan to believe Seide was in immediate danger as the car moved forward on a busy highway, which would make his use of force reasonable.
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Donald Trump walked down the steps of the Boeing 757 that bears his name, walked across a rain-soaked tarmac and, after twice missing the handle, climbed into the passenger seat of a white garbage truck that also carried his name.
The former president, once a reality TV star known for his showmanship, wanted to draw attention to a remark made a day earlier by his successor, Democratic President Joe Biden, that suggested Trump’s supporters were garbage. Trump has used the remark as a cudgel against his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.
”How do you like my garbage truck?” Trump said, wearing an orange and yellow safety vest over his white dress shirt and red tie. ”This is in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden.”
Trump and other Republicans were facing pushback of their own for comments by a comedian at a weekend Trump rally who disparaged Puerto Rico as a ”floating island of garbage.” Trump then seized on a comment Biden made on a late Wednesday call that “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.”
The president tried to clarify the comment afterward, saying he had intended to say Trump’s demonization of Latinos was unconscionable. But it was too late.
On Thursday, after arriving in Green Bay, Wisconsin, for an evening rally, Trump climbed into the garbage truck, carrying on a brief discussion with reporters while looking out the window — similar to what he did earlier this month during a photo opportunity he staged at a Pennsylvania McDonalds.
He again tried to distance himself from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, whose joke had set off the firestorm, but Trump did not denounce it. He also said he did not need to apologize to Puerto Ricans.
”I don’t know anything about the comedian,” Trump said. ”I don’t know who he is. I’ve never seen him. I heard he made a statement, but it was a statement that he made. He’s a comedian, what can I tell you. I know nothing about him.”
