Judge declines plea agreement from Husayn Braveheart, accomplice in deadly Minneapolis carjacking
MINNEAPOLIS — A judge Monday afternoon declined to accept the plea agreement of 20-year-old Husayn Braveheart, an accomplice in a deadly carjacking in northeast Minneapolis in 2019.
Braveheart was 15 years old at the time of the crime and was only recently certified as an adult after an appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court — a process that took four years.
RELATED: Families protest Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty's plea deals for juvenile offenders
Officials say 39-year-old Steve Markey was shot and killed on June 11, 2019 at the intersection of 14th Avenue Northeast and Tyler Street Northeast. Police say two teens, Jered Ohsman and Braveheart, were armed with guns and wearing bandanas over their faces when they attempted to steal the victim's car and rob him.
The shooter, Jered Ohsman, was 16 at the time and certified as an adult. He is now serving more than 20 years in prison.
While Braveheart didn't fire the fatal shot, he did fire after Markey drove off, and was offered a controversial plea by Hennepin County prosecutors.
Braveheart's amenability to probation, his lessor role in the incident as compared to his co-defendant, and the progress he has made in treatment during the nearly four-and-a-half years of incarceration since the murder occurred, gives the state reason to ask for a deal that stays his prison sentence and make way for him to serve 365 days in the Hennepin County Adult Corrections Workhouse with furloughs for work programming and school.
Nick Kimball, spokesperson for the Hennepin County Attorney's Office, gave this statement Monday to WCCO:
We disagree with the judge's decision. The agreement balanced the possibility of severe punishment with the reality that this young man with a terrible childhood has succeeded when he was finally given access to intensive resources. His responsiveness thus far shows that continued serious treatment gives us the best chance to protect the public in the future. Instead, his treatment would likely end if he goes to adult prison and he would likely come out worse than when he went in. Our proposed sentence acknowledged this reality.
In August, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty told WCCO that Braveheart responded to those programs so well that her office offered him a plea deal that would put him on probation instead of behind bars.
"My commitment to Stephen Markey's family is that we will do everything we can to prevent another family from suffering such a tragic, senseless, and devastating loss," Moriarty said. "Mr. Braveheart has shown he is responsive to the carefully-selected programming he has received over the past four years. If we disrupt that progress, we will jeopardize public safety and risk everything when he comes back to the community. We cannot take that risk."
Markey's family has been strongly opposed to the plea deal and in August begged the judge in court to reject it.
"This is an important day for the family of Steven Markey," Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association General Counsel Imran Ali said. "Today, the family is not subjected to the repeated re-victimization. Instead, Judge Burns provided a glimpse of hope for the family."