2nd gunman in deadly Mall of America shooting also sentenced to 30-plus years
MINNEAPOLIS — A second man who pleaded guilty to a deadly shooting at the Mall of America in 2022 was sentenced on Monday to more than 30 years in prison.
Lavon Longstreet was 17 when he gunned down 19-year-old Johntae Hudson in the Nordstrom department store. Documents say Longstreet and TaeShawn Adams-Wright brandished handguns with extended magazines and chased Hudson through the store.
Hudson was shot 10 times, and a bullet also grazed a bystander who was shopping with her daughter. Hudson died at the scene.
"They didn't want to wound him. They didn't want to injure him," Lynn Hudson, the victim's mother, told the judge in a victim impact statement. "They executed my son."
She also directly addressed Longstreet.
"You see this necklace on my neck, Mr. Longstreet? This is all I have of my son," she said. "This came off of his body. I didn't let them bury him with it because it's all that I have."
Longstreet, like Adams-Wright before him, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and second-degree assault. Two weeks ago, Adams-Wright was given an identical sentence. Their plea agreements called for them to receive more than a 30-year sentence for the murder and a three-year sentence for the assault, which will be served concurrently.
"With the sentencing of Mr. Longstreet and his co-defendant, who killed one person and put the lives of many more at risk, we've now held both major actors accountable for Mr. Hudson's death," Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement. "These lengthy prison sentences reflect the severity of their actions and protect public safety."
Two other 17-year-old boys were also charged in juvenile court with second-degree riot, a felony. One is accused of blocking Hudson's escape, while the other is accused of grabbing him while he tried to flee.
