Man Sentenced For Killing Innocent Bystander Outside Mpls. Bar
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Brooklyn Center man learned his fate Thursday after he pleaded guilty to charges connected to a deadly shooting outside of a downtown Minneapolis bar last fall.
The Hennepin County Attorney's office says 31-year-old Sherman Alexander was convicted of one count of second-degree intentional murder in the death of Jenna Rae Heilman, 28.
He was also convicted of second-degree assault for shooting a man, who survived.
Both of his victims were innocent bystanders.
The criminal complaint says Alexander was involved in a fight inside of The Pourhouse Bar on the night of Sept. 5, 2016, which started after someone in his group tried to steal a bottle of alcohol from another group's table.
After both groups involved in the fight were removed from the bar, Alexander admitting to going to his car, getting his gun and firing 10 shots in the direction of a man involved in the fight.
The intended target was not hit, but the bullets stuck Heilman and another victim.
Heilman, from Minneapolis, underwent 13 surgeries before she died from her injuries, according to her family.
"All you had to do was walk away. It was a bar fight," said Judge Juan Hoyos. "Instead, you got a gun and fired 10 times. Now you will spend much of your life in prison. It was senseless and no one in this room will understand it."
Alexander was sentenced to 28-and-a-half years in prison immediately after pleading guilty.
