Star Tribune
Red Lake father given 5 years in prison for Christmas Day starvation death of 7-year-old daughter
A father has been given a five-year prison term for neglecting his 7-year-old daughter to the point that she died of starvation on Christmas Day while living in wretched conditions on the Red Lake Indian Reservation.
Julius Fineday Sr., 42, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis after pleading guilty to felony child neglect in connection with the death of Jewel Sky Fineday on Dec. 25, 2022, at the Indian Health Service.
On April 30, jurors convicted Jewel’s grandmother, Sharon Marie Rosebear, 63, on the same charge. Rosebear’s sentencing has yet to be scheduled.
During the sentencing of Fineday, Judge Patrick Schiltz pointed out that Jewel’s starvation was not due to a lack of resources or inadequate available food in the house, but a lack of care that left the girl “not just thin, but skeletal” at the time of her death.
Schiltz added that he hoped Fineday’s five-year sentence will send a signal that “neglecting or abusing a child will result in negative consequences not only for the child, but also the responsible adult.”
Defense attorney Robert Richman argued in a court filing ahead of sentencing for a year in prison for his client and noted that Jewel “died as a result of poverty, neglect and a family overwhelmed by the burden of caring for 10 minor children. … Had Indian Family and Children Services intervened sooner, [she] would still be alive.”
Richman backed up his contention by pointing out that Jewel’s home by 2021 “was no long fit for human habitation. … The home had no running water, heat or indoor plumbing. … The walls had open holes with insulation hanging out, and the house was infested with mice and cockroaches.”
Fineday has acknowledged his neglect of Jewel, the attorney continued, and “tried to provide food for [her] and her siblings, and did not realize she was dangerously malnourished.”
According to her online obituary, “Jewel loved to spend time watching TikTok on her dad’s phone. Jewel was a very quiet girl, and when Grandpa would sing and beat his drum, she would dance just hard and out dance all the other kids.”
Jewel’s native name was Miikawaddizimikinaakikezens, meaning “Beautiful Turtle Girl,” the obituary noted. “She loved turtle[s] especially sea turtles.”
Brooklyn Park police are seeking the public’s help in finding the driver of a vehicle that struck and injured a 12-year-old girl walking to school on Wednesday.
The crash occurred at 8:42 a.m. near the intersection of Boone Av. N and 63rd Av. N. The girl was crossing the street to reach a bus stop, according to police. The driver then fled the scene.
The girl sustained “moderate injuries” and was taken to the hospital by ambulance, police said.
Police described the vehicle as a white 2015 to 2019 Hyundai Sonata that is missing a passenger side rearview mirror. Police said the driver was a woman, but did not have a specific description. The vehicle came from the west across 63rd Avenue from the Bass Creek neighborhood between Highway 169 & Boone Avenue , then continued east on 63rd Avenue toward County Road 81.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Brooklyn Park police at (763) 493-8222.
Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold is expanding his plans of renovating the Xcel Energy Center to include the construction of a 650-room convention center hotel.
It originally included plans to renovate the adjacent RiverCentre, a parking ramp and a bridge along Kellogg Boulevard. It was previously estimated to cost around $250 million to $300 million.
The price tag will rise now, Leipold said, but he did not specify how much. A 650-room hotel would top in size the 410-room InterContinental Saint Paul Riverfront hotel that is already downtown.
“The whole project is so great for downtown St. Paul, and it’s not just the arena,” Leipold said. “It’s a lot of stuff, so we think it’s great for downtown. It’s good for our fans, good for our market and we’re pushing hard this year.”
Minnesota Wild fans cross St. Paul’s West Seventh Street to the Xcel Energy Center before a Minnesota Wild game in October 2021. (Alex Kormann)
Leipold said the Wild would perhaps contribute up to $250 million in financing and would seek further assistance from the state. But he said it’s unclear what the chances are to receive that support, given the November elections could potentially result in a new governor and the Legislature in Minnesota.
“We’re trying to sell the legislature and the governor,” Leipold said. “The problem is, nobody knows who’s going to be running the legislature, Republicans or Democrats. We don’t know who the governor’s going to be. We’re kind of in a tough spot right now. But ultimately, we need to get the renovations and the upgrades in this arena.”
State Sen. Sandra Pappas, who expressed skepticism about the project receiving state assistance last December, was unavailable for comment Wednesday. The office of Gov. Tim Walz did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The suit alleges there is no plan for single-family homes at the development, which will instead be multi-family homes. Buyers will have to obtain either a traditional mortgage, with interest, or “obtain a loan from a Sharia-compliant lender” that Nolosha knew would charge a “profit rate” on top of the cost of the house. It also alleges that “most egregiously” customers will not be able to move into Nolosha in 2023 or 2024 because the development will not be ready for “many more years at best.”
It also says that when the Attorney General’s Office requested that Nolosha pay customers a full refund due to the delays, Nolosha refused.
The Attorney General’s Office contends that Nolosha doesn’t own the development’s proposed site in Lakeville, but offered to buy the land for $4 million in April 2023. Four extensions to the closing date have since been granted, the latest setting that date for Nov. 10 and the price at $3.4 million.
Abdullahi has said he has a signed purchase agreement for the property.
The lawsuit states that Nolosha has lacked even basic communication with Lakeville and has not submitted a comprehensive plan to the city about the development, let alone broken ground. Attached to the lawsuit is a photo of the proposed site, calling it “just undeveloped wetlands.”
It accuses Abdullahi of enriching himself as the “sole full-time employee of Nolosha” earning a salary between $2,000 and $4,000 per month.
