Star Tribune
Myon Burrell sentenced to five years in prison for gun, drug convictions following 2023 traffic stop
Burrell was ordered out of the SUV, charges say, where a field sobriety test indicated a degree of intoxication. He objected when the officer told him his vehicle was going to be searched for marijuana and started walking away when told to sit in the squad car.
In addition to the firearm, police found a backpack containing two bags of marijuana and 21 clear capsules of a powder that tested positive for methamphetamine. Inside he also had a bag of 16 suspected ecstasy pills, more empty baggies and a digital scale.
Burrell can’t possess guns because of the felony murder conviction. As a juvenile, he was convicted of killing of 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards, who was struck by a stray bullet in south Minneapolis while doing math homework at her dining room table. Burrell’s life sentence was commuted by the Minnesota Board of Pardons after he served 18 years. He has always maintained his innocence in Tyesha’s killing.
Burrell has another pending felony drug case related to a May traffic stop, where a county violent offender task force allegedly seized methamphetamine from his SUV. A police search of Burrell’s Crystal home also turned up a suitcase with $60,000 in cash, according to the complaint.
Both of Burrell’s drug cases are being prosecuted by the Dakota County Attorney’s Office because of a potential conflict of interest stemming from Burrell’s role as a paid member of Mary Moriarty’s campaign staff in 2022, when she successfully ran for Hennepin County attorney.
This is a breaking news story. Come back to Startribune.com for more details.
Star Tribune
Duluth bike group asks for safer roads after cyclist dies crossing Mesaba Avenue at rush hour
DULUTH – Alice Tibbetts slipped into all the gear she wears to make herself more visible to vehicles as a decades-long, year-round bike commuter: bright yellow jacket, reflective vest, several lights and a reflective helmet.
“The question is, would this have saved me from a driver going 42 miles an hour down Mesaba [Avenue]?” she asked, referencing a commuter-heavy road. “The answer is no.”
Tibbetts and other members of Vibrant Streets Duluth, a chapter of the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota, hosted a call to the city of Duluth, St. Louis County and the Minnesota Department of Transportation for improved safety Thursday afternoon in response to the Dec. 4 death of a cyclist who was struck by two cars and killed as he crossed a high-traffic highway here during rush hour. The group is asking for speed monitoring or flashing beacons at dangerous crossings, enforcement of pedestrian right-of-way laws, data-driven solutions and a city transportation commission.
Steven Edward Hoover, 60, was hit at 5 p.m. as he crossed Mesaba Avenue below First Avenue W. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to a news release from Duluth police.
The day after Hoover’s death, members of Vibrant Streets Duluth visited the site of the crash to clock traffic using a radar gun. Forrest Vodden, the group’s chairman, said it wasn’t a scientific study, but a 15-minute sampling found most drivers exceeding the speed limit by 8-10 miles per hour and some drivers surpassed 50. The speed limit on this stretch is 30.
“We just wanted to get a feel for the speeds at that time of day at that location,” he said.
The transportation commission could be a reality. In his state of the city speech earlier this year, Mayor Roger Reinert noted that Duluth has 39 boards and commissions and he was looking to the city council to align and reform some of these groups. At the same time, he suggested the formation of a transportation commission that would offer input on streets, sidewalks, bike lanes and other paths.
City Councilor Mike Mayou, who was at Vibrant Streets Duluth’s event, said he could see such a committee developing within the next six to eight months, if not sooner. The logistics of it still need to be planned.
A 38-year-old Bois Forte Band of Chippewa member was killed in a hit-and-run accident in Tower on Tuesday night, near Fortune Bay Resort Casino.
Amanda Boshey was struck as she walked along a road near the turn into the resort, about a mile from her home, a spokesman for the band said in a news release.
The FBI has found a person of interest in the case, the release said. The agency is investigating because the death occurred on tribal land.
Boshey, a mother to five children, worked as a laborer for a construction company and was in recovery from a substance-use addiction, the release says. She would have been sober for three years next month. A fund will be set up at the Embarrass Vermillion Credit Union for her children.
The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office assisted tribal police in the aftermath of the accident.
DULUTH – Two people were found dead in a vehicle on the top floor of the parking ramp at the Duluth International Airport, Duluth police said Thursday afternoon in a news release.
The man and woman were known to each other and there is no threat to the public. The investigation remains active. The police haven’t yet released their names to the public.
Duluth police were trying to find the man, who was reportedly struggling with his mental health, when they discovered his vehicle parked at the airport.
