Kare11
AG Ellison to take over prosecution in murder of Zaria McKeever
In a statement Thursday, Ellison said he had requested Moriarty’s office refer the prosecution of the case to his office, but he was turned down.
MINNEAPOLIS — Editors Note: The above video first aired on 4/6/2023
Just one day after publicly disagreeing with Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty’s handling of a juvenile murder case, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has agreed to take over prosecution in the matter, at the request of Gov. Tim Walz and against the will of Moriarty.
“I have absolute confidence in Attorney General Ellison,” Governor Walz said in a release. “He has requested this important case and stepped up once again to serve the people of Minnesota. I know Keith will work tirelessly to seek justice and bring a modicum of peace to the grieving family.”
Zaria McKeever was shot to death in her apartment last November — allegedly by a 15-year-old, who along with his 17-year-old brother kicked in her apartment door. McKeever’s ex-boyfriend Erick Haynes allegedly gave them the gun and drove them there.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office under Mike Freeman moved to certify the boys as adults to be tried for murder alongside Haynes, but after Moriarty became Hennepin County Attorney, her office changed course — offering the boys a plea bargain to serve two years in the Red Wing juvenile prison and testify against Haynes.
Ellison appeared at a community event on Wednesday, where he proclaimed his disagreement with Moriarty’s handling of the case.
McKeever’s family had already requested Ellison to take the case from Moriarty and expressed worry on Wednesday that he wouldn’t fulfill his promise to them.
“You were our last hope. You gave us hope when we met with you,” said McKeever’s stepfather Paul Greer at the event.
In a statement Thursday, Ellison said he had requested Moriarty’s office refer the prosecution of the case to his office, but he was turned down.
“While I share the belief that too many juveniles are involved in the adult criminal justice system, accountability for the seriousness of this crime has been missing in this case. I respect that county attorneys are duly elected by their constituents to exercise their discretion; however, the disposition of the juvenile shooter that Hennepin County has proposed in this case is disproportionate to the seriousness of the crime committed and falls far short of the family’s and community’s expectations for justice and safety,” said Ellison, in his statement.
Moriarty issued her own statement Thursday afternoon, saying her office considered the factors of youth and what protects public safety in both the short and the long term.
“Prosecuting a juvenile for homicide without seeking an adult certification is not unprecedented in Minnesota. But the Attorney General’s decision to insert himself in a prosecution when an elected County Attorney is actively prosecuting a case is unprecedented,” said Moriarty in the statement.
Moriarty added that Ellison’s action to insert his office into the case undermines the longstanding constitutional authority, autonomy, and responsibility of elected prosecutors.
“I am sure that the Attorney General has disagreed with many outcomes in many cases in this state over the years, some because the sentences are too low and some because the sentences are too harsh. It is unfortunate that, in what has become a very high-profile case, he has decided to instigate an unprecedented intervention.” concludes Moriarty’s statement.
The move truly is an 11th-hour decision, as the 15-year-old was set to enter into the plea agreement Friday morning in juvenile court. Ellison’s team rather than Moriarty’s team will now attend that hearing, and the judge is likely to continue the matter to a later date.
Although some county attorneys across the state disagree with how Moriarty was handling the juvenile case, the Minnesota County Attorney’s Association disagreed with Walz using his power to take the case away from an elected county attorney actively prosecuting it.
Ellison ended up taking over the prosecution of the Derek Chauvin and Kim Potter cases, but in both those instances the county attorney voluntarily asked for assistance.
Minnesota’s governor has only once exercised the statutory ability to involuntarily remove a case from a county attorney.
In 1993 in Crow Wing County, Jack Graham was refusing to prosecute child sex abuse cases. Gov. Arne Carlson assigned the attorney general’s office to intervene at the request of the county sheriff and other officials.
Prior to formally asking Gov. Walz to assign him the case, Ellison wrote a letter to Judge Todd Fellman, who is presiding over the 15-year-old’s case, and asked Judge Fellman to reject Moriarty’s plea offer.
In the letter obtained by KARE 11 News, dated April 4, Ellison spells out more clearly how he disagrees with Moriarty’s characterization of the case. She emphasizes that the teens were influenced and manipulated by Haynes, the adult in the case.
But Ellison wrote, “This criminal act was developing for weeks and [the 15-year-old] had time to reflect and ask questions. [The 15-year-old] accepted a gun, a deadly weapon, and voluntarily discharged the gun. And, most heinous of all, [the 15-year-old] knew the decedent and he knew her daughter. This is not a case of a juvenile being manipulated. [The 15-year-old] knowingly and voluntarily killed the decedent.”
Ellison adds that “any offender who commits such a horrible murder should serve years in prison” and “the court should not allow [the 15-year-old] to avoid punishment and then terrorize the McKeever family and the rest of the community.”
Legal experts have told KARE 11 News that Judge Fellman does not have authority to reject a plea in an extended juvenile jurisdiction prosecution, which might have played a role in Ellison stepping in.
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist:
The crash occurred at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday in Welcome, Minnesota after the bus driver failed to yield to the truck, which had the right-of-way.
WELCOME, Minn. — Nine students were injured Wednesday morning when a truck crashed into a bus in southern Minnesota.
The crash occurred at 8:15 a.m. in Welcome, Minnesota after the bus driver failed to yield to the truck, which had the right-of-way at the intersection of County Road 7 and 280th Street, according to the Redwood County Sheriff’s Office. In a press release, officials say the nine students sustained “minor injuries” and were transported to a nearby hospital.
The initial investigation indicates that the truck, an F550, was traveling north on County Road 7, while the bus, which was providing service to the Wabasso Public School District, was traveling east on 280th Street. The news release says the truck had the right-of-way at the intersection.
“We are grateful that no serious injuries happened to our students, the driver or the other driver, however, nine students were transported to area hospitals for follow-up treatment,” Superintendent Jon Fulton said in a letter to parents. “… The District and 4.0 bus transportation company is praying for a speedy recovery for the students and families involved.”
Several fans said this team has inspired them to pursue a career in sports.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Lynx is inspiring the next generation of athletes regardless of whether they win or lose.
Sophia Witkowski went to the game with her mother, Christy, to watch Game 3 of the WNBA Finals.
“For her to see all her idols it’s just so fun,” Christy said.
“I like it because women’s sports aren’t that popular. Now the WNBA is really popular,” Sophia said.
They weren’t the only mother-and-daughter duo at the game. Amanda Williams took her 10-year-old daughter Abby to watch.
“It’s really awesome to have my daughter here to see great role models from the team and the fact,” Amanda said.
“I think that it’s super cool that they get to do what they want to do, and they get paid for it too,” Abby said.
Maggie Niska with Her Next Play, a nonprofit working to empower the next generation of female leaders through sports, said their visibility is everything.
“I think it gives these girls someone to look up to, and it gives them something to aspire to, and by having them in the community it makes seem a little more reachable too,” Niska said.
She said the Lynx Academy put on a basketball clinic for some of her girls in Hopkins Tuesday night. Niska said all of the professional women’s sports teams in Minnesota show girls they can have a future in sports.
“I just think that any visibility these girls can get to women competing at sports at a higher level, hearing these women speak, and seeing them succeed, and getting insight into their lives and what they do to compete at this higher level, I think all of that serves as a great inspiration to these girls,” she said.
It’s something Lynx Head Coach Cheryl Reeve understands well.
“For young girls to see the opportunities for them to play in any sport and then also more in sport, jobs in sports that sports can be a career,” Reeve said.
Sophia Ritter and Taylor Tool drove hours to see the players in action.
“We traveled from Aberdeen, South Dakota and the Northern State women’s basketball team took two vans,” she said.
Ritter and Tool both said it was a cool opportunity for them to see two great teams play on the professional level.
“Growing up, WNBA wasn’t really a big a thing and something that everyone was watching and now that it’s growing it’s really nice to see,” Ritter said.
“It’s really fun seeing all the support and seeing how many people come to watch the games like it’s really cool to see all the fans in the stands filling up and it’s growing,” Tool said.
Gophers’ Shoot Guard Mara Braun went to the game with her team after practice.
“These women out here are just amazingly talented and they play with this toughness that I think we’re really trying to embody as a team,” Braun said.
She knows young girls are looking up to her and her teammates just like they are with the Lynx.
“Especially growing up, you know, you want to play college basketball, and the next level is WNBA or overseas or whatever it is, so for me this is obviously a dream and something I’m working towards to be able to see it,” she said.
Braun dreams of playing in the WNBA and watching the Lynx and the Liberty in the finals makes that dream feel like it could be her new reality.
The department is the only one in the state to start a non-fatal shooting unit that launched in January.
ST PAUL, Minn. — The City of St. Paul has seen a number of deadly shootings recently, but often it’s the ones that aren’t fatal that don’t get as much attention. And for police, they can also be harder to solve.
The department, though, is trying something new to try and reverse that trend.
“The amount of guns that are on the street right now,” St. Paul Police Commander Nikkole Peterson said about the biggest change she’s seen in the 22 years she’s been a cop. “It’s jaw-dropping.”
Commander Peterson is now in charge of the department’s non-fatal shooting unit that launched in January focusing only on those crimes.
It’s the only department in the state implementing something like that, after it saw success with the police department in Denver, Colorado doing something similar.
“If there’s a shooting, it doesn’t matter what time of night that happens or time of day, that sergeant will get called in to begin the investigation immediately,” said Commander Peterson.
The crime used to fall on the homicide unit that’s already burdened by heavy case loads. There’s also usually little victim cooperation which can stall solving non-fatal shootings.
“A lot of times we wouldn’t investigate it any further or the prosecutor wouldn’t charge those crimes and we knew that something different had to be done,” said Commander Peterson.
The unit is now treating non-fatal shootings like homicides and making them a priority. The investigators also rely more heavily on evidence and devote just as many resources, from forensics to video management and even SWAT teams.
“We are utilizing all these different resources to help solve these crimes,” said Commander Peterson. “We’re chasing down every lead that we can.”
In a press conference on Tuesday, St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry said there have been 86 non-fatal shootings compared to 99 this same time last year. But two years ago, there were 170, putting the city’s solve rate around 60%.
“Anything above 50% is just incredible and so we’re really happy with where we’re at right now,” said Commander Peterson.
Commander Peterson also credits the city’s ASPIRE program that focuses on intervention, particularly with youth. She also points to the Office of Neighborhood Safety that partners with local organizations working on prevention, saying this cooperation is ultimately what will reduce crime.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings