Star Tribune
12-year sentence for man who fatally shot girl,15, near Lake of the Isles
A Bloomington man was sentenced to a prison term of roughly 12 years for fatally shooting a 15-year-old girl near Lake of the Isles in south Minneapolis last year.
Antonio L. Brooks Jr., 20, was sentenced Friday in Hennepin County District Court after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the shooting of Ka’Maih Emauri Johnson, of Minneapolis on July 17, 2023.
With credit for time in jail since his arrest, Brooks is expected to serve about 7¾ years in prison and the balance on supervised release.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office found that Johnson was shot multiple times in the chest shortly before 1:30 a.m. near the residential intersection of W. 25½ Street and Girard Avenue S.
In a post-sentencing statement, County Attorney Mary Moriarty said: “My thoughts are with Ka’Maih’s family. She should still be with her family. Instead, the community has lost another young person to gun violence. … We must do more at every level to reduce the terrible impact of gun violence in our communities.”
Police arrived at the scene and saw a wounded Johnson down in the street. Officers found a discharged cartridge casing nearby.
A female witness whose age was not provided told investigators that she and Johnson were cruising around with three juvenile males when Brooks, who was 18 at the time, texted her and arranged to meet up.
“We have not abandoned the effort to try and win those voters,” Hann said of suburbanites.
But Martin said he started to see the GOP’s grip on the suburbs loosening 20 years ago, when Democrat John Kerry won Edina in the 2004 presidential election.
“That’s the moment when I really knew there was a sea change coming in Minnesota politics,” he said. The DFL by then was competitive in suburbs like St. Louis Park, Richfield and Bloomington, but Martin saw Edina’s flip as “really quite remarkable,” he said. “You could see the wind started to change out there.”
It took another 14 years for a Democrat to win the Third Congressional District.
Since he became chair of the DFL in 2010, Martin said suburbs have been his main focus. He said the party has spent a lot of time and resources recruiting candidates for school board, city council and legislative contests.
“I think it would be reductive to say it was just I that flipped the district,” Phillips said of his win in 2018. That win came after years of organizing, he said, and amid growing dissatisfaction with former Republican President Donald Trump.
A Minneapolis City Council committee agreed Monday to pay $30,000 to a man who witnessed the 2020 police killing of George Floyd, and begged Floyd to cooperate with police who were trying to arrest him for passing a fake $20 bill at Cup Foods.
Charles McMillian, 64, tearfully relived Floyd’s death during former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s 2021 murder trial, breaking down as he recalled watching Floyd die on the street in his south Minneapolis neighborhood.
He filed a legal claim against the city for emotional distress, and on Monday, the Administration & Enterprise Oversight Committee approved the settlement. The full council next takes up the settlement, which would be paid out of the city’s self-insurance fund.
Earlier this year, the City Council approved a $150,000 settlement with Donald Williams, another eyewitness who alleged that he was assaulted by police while trying to intervene in Floyd’s arrest. The city has paid out nearly $50 million in police brutality claims in the aftermath of Floyd’s killing.
McMillian testified during Chauvin’s trial that he was driving near Cup Foods at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue when he saw Minneapolis police officers standing by Floyd’s SUV and stopped to see what was going on.
When the officers handcuffed Floyd, walked him across the street and pinned him to the ground after a struggle in the squad car, McMillian begged Floyd not to resist arrest, yelling “you can’t win!” and “get up and get in the car!” Floyd repeatedly said he couldn’t.
Messages left with McMillian and the law firm representing him weren’t returned.
Star Tribune
Man pleads guilty to fleeing police in Robbinsdale, causing crash that killed young mom
A 21-year-old Minneapolis man on Monday admitted to causing a two-vehicle crash while fleeing police in Robbinsdale that killed a young mother and severely injured her husband.
Quintin Leon Hudson, 21, agreed in Hennepin County District Court to plead guilty to fleeing police resulting in death, and fleeing police resulting in great bodily harm, in connection with the accident on July 8, 2023, at 36th and Orchard avenues N.. where he broadsided a minivan following a brief pursuit by police.
Emily Gerding, 34, of Crystal, died. Her husband, John Gerding, 35, was seriously injured.
The plea agreement calls for Hudson to be sentenced to a 13¾-year term. With credit for time in jail after his arrest, Hudson is expected to serve roughly 8¾ years in prison and the balance on supervised release. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 12.
“Emily should still be alive,” read a statement from County Attorney Mary Moriarty. “Mr. Hudson’s actions took her from our community, devastated her family, and left her husband, John, with life-threatening injuries.”
Hudson was driving alone in a Tesla, police said. He had a state-issued instruction permit and wasn’t legally allowed to drive unless a licensed motorist over age 18 was with him, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
The car was not stolen. Its owner told the Star Tribune he was letting a friend use it for a while. That friend said Hudson took the keys from her while she was sleeping.
The Gerdings worked as special-education teachers at Coon Rapids Middle School, according to a spokeswoman for the Anoka-Hennepin School District.
