Opening statements expected Monday in killing of Deshaun Hill
MINNEAPOLIS -- A jury trial for a man accused of killing a Minneapolis teenager last winter begins Monday, following a number of delays.
Thirty-year-old Cody Fohrenkam is charged with second-degree murder for the shooting in February 2022. He's accused of killing 15-year-old Deshaun Hill, who was a standout student-athlete at North High.
His trial was set to begin in November, but it was then delayed to January. Furthermore, opening statements -- which were supposed to start Friday -- were delayed to this week. A judge granted the defense's request to delay, because Fohrenkam was "not in a good place," and needed time to deal with his anxiety and frustrations.
If the court had proceeded on Friday, attorneys threatened that it could lead them to invoke Rule 20, a determination that "there is a belief that a defendant may not be competent to proceed with the case."
Hill was shot and killed on Feb. 9, 2022, when students were encouraged to leave school early and attend a demonstration following the police killing of Amir Locke. Hill had left school, and prosecutors say surveillance video shows Fohrenkam walk past him moments before gun shots rang out.
Fohrenkam said he was in the area looking for someone who stole his phone.
Earlier this month, Minneapolis Public Schools agreed to a $500,000 settlement with Hill's family.