Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty criticized Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison during a Friday news conference after the governor used his executive authority to take away the murder case of Zaria McKeever from her office and hand it to Ellison’s.
Moriarty has faced backlash for reaching a plea deal with two teenage defendants, including from members of McKeever’s family, as well as Ellison, who criticized the plea deal publicly at an event on Wednesday.
“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,” Ellison said in a written statement.
Walz released a letter the following day assigning the case to Ellison’s office, followed by a statement where the governor said he has full confidence in Ellison to “seek justice and bring a modicum of peace to the grieving family.”
RELATED: Ellison takeover of murder case from Moriarty at odds with campaign criticism of GOP
“This authority is rarely used, and it should remain an option of last resort,” Walz’s letter to Ellison reads. “As I have discussed with you, I have determined to exercise this authority only upon your formal written request. Your letter makes clear that you are requesting the authority to prosecute individuals responsible for the murder of Zaria McKeever.”
The case involves two brothers, ages 15 and 17, who were allegedly directed by the adult ex-boyfriend of 23-year-old McKeever to shoot and kill McKeever in her Brooklyn Park apartment last November. Moriarty’s office offered the juveniles plea deals involving shorter sentences in exchange for cooperation on the case against the ex-boyfriend.
Moriarty compared the intervention by Walz and Ellison to state officials in Republican-led states who target progressive prosecutors and intervene by taking cases away, including one instance in Florida where GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis removed Tampa prosecutor Andrew Warren after Warren vowed not to prosecute people under the state’s new abortion and gender-affirming care restrictions.
“This governor and this attorney general are doing exactly — precisely — what their opponents in the last election promised they would do,” she said. “Their actions here show that they also don’t really believe fully in democracy because they are stopping me from doing the job voters elected me to do, only very recently by the way, because they don’t like this particular outcome.”
Moriarty said the Minnesota County Attorneys Association voted unanimously to oppose the decision by Walz and Ellison, agreeing that the decision to intervene could set a dangerous precedent where any prosecutor’s discretion may be challenged if someone disagrees with the outcome of any case.
The first-term top prosecutor defended her decision-making, arguing that she ran her campaign on reform that included restorative justice over lengthy prison sentences, and the residents of Hennepin County elected her to carry those out.
“We could send this 15-year-old to prison, he would get out in his early 30s. We know from research and all of the people you talk to who’ve gone to prison, he would be incredibly traumatized and come out more likely to commit violence,” she said. “He would be more of a danger to the community.”
[image_credit]MinnPost photo by Kyle Stokes[/image_credit][image_caption]Tiffynnie Epps, the sister of Zaria McKeever, attended the news conference and said of Moriarty: “You're here to prosecute, not public defend, not offer slaps on the wrist, not give timeouts."[/image_caption]
“The wrong one,” Epps said. “That’s the answer.”
In an interview, Epps said she met with Ellison and sent several emails and tweets to the governor to try to get the case reassigned.
“You’re here to prosecute, not public defend, not offer slaps on the wrist, not give timeouts,” Epps said. “You’re here to prosecute and to charge people with their crimes.”
MinnPost reporter Kyle Stokes contributed to this report.
Every employee has someone who supervises them and to whom they answer. For her to think that she has no one above her … is wrong. When any employee is wrong in their decision making, their supervisor can correct them. To commit murder and be done with your punishment by the age of 21 …. is ridiculous.
It was great to see Democrats (and Republicans?) finally take murder and felonies seriously in MN. The murders of the young children in Mpls was a horrific one that sticks in my brain as terribly tragic as well. It is sad that yet another person was murdered here. Being responsible for your actions, including this horrific murder for hire, is something we need to aspire to. Perhaps we will finally consider the victims in these tragedies- especially for the victims of repeat offenders and murderers. It is time to realize that teens or adults murdering someone is not normal behavior. I believe our culture values human life.
“Moriarty’s office offered the juveniles plea deals involving shorter sentences in exchange for cooperation on the case against the ex-boyfriend.”
Gotta wonder how Ellison’s move is going to impact the case against to coordinator of this crime. Seems more valuable to punish the person who initiated the scheme than the kids he manipulated to pull the trigger.
Oh but wait Brian, Mary M says the brain is not fully developed until age 25 so the perpetrator you’re referring to can’t be held accountable because he was only 22. Or maybe that’s close enough for our prosecutor-“close enough for government work”.
A good prosecutor would be addressing the crime of a 15 year old and a 17 year old differently. Younger people are less mature and follow the direction of their elders. Tge 15 year old should have gone to juvenile court, his brother to adult court. Extra work, but wortt it.. Because that didn’t happen the younger brother could get harsher treatment and not 6 years in custody to turn in around.
Our methods of preventing and dealing with juvenile crime need total reform,
Also pulling in how we deal with kids too young to punish and those who struggle after high school. Not just justice, but education, social services, child protection and mental health. This is a state issue. Cooperate with it and you get real reform – obstruct and you get nothing!
What about the parents? These kids didn’t turn into murderers in a vacuum. There should be some serious consequences for parents who create, or tolerate, the kind of environments that result in these disasters.
All well and good. There is nothing I find disagreeable in your ideas. There should be ways to keep violent juvenile offenders in a population with age appropriate services, separated from adults.
However, what do you tell the family in this instance? “Thoughts and prayers. Sorry for your loss. Unfortunately this one is gonna fall through the cracks. We haven’t set up our new system yet. So, by the end of next year you could easily bump into your daughter’s killer at Walmart. Should that occur please use decorum and treat that person with respect.” That is madness. Everyone better hope he doesn’t become friends with any of their daughter’s exes after release.
Someone broken enough to execute another human as a favor is not someone that should be free in less than 2 years. That is what needs to be dealt with and answered for in this immediate set of circumstances. Good ideas aren’t really an option here.
I agree, Joel. The prosecution issue is about one prosecutor who knows something about child development vs. another who sympathizes with those who need revenge for their loss, plus a state that won’t spend anything commensurate with what it requires to deal with young people who struggle without personal resources to help them resolve their issues reasonably.
You are honestly calling the McKeever’s wish for some justice revenge seeking?
This family lost a 23 year old daughter. They are now the caregivers for a one year old child. This child will never again experience it’s mother’s touch or love. They have all been robbed of an untold future.
You, and this, “we understand child development/restorative justice” crowd, exhibit a truly cold blooded lack of compassion for victems. Mix this with a dogmatic adherence to oft fallible social science research. With these types of true believers in power I see nothing but increasing calamity and societal breakdown.
While they all clink glasses to their pompous savior equity bonifides, the least fortunate will most certainly bear the brunt of this broken thinking.
What a mistake Hennepin County voters made in electing her.
“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”
Or a short visit to a MAGA rally.
Why bring MAGA into this? Every person involved in this case is a democrat.
And we know progressives are never wrong
Here’s the plea deal and full details of the crime. For some reason these are not included in the article.
Moriarty took this case from a prosecutor working with the blessing of the McKeever family to certify the two boys as adults. To the shock of the family Moriarty offered a plea deal (already accepted by the older brother) of 1.5 to 2 years at Redwing juvinlle, then probation until age 21. The original prosecutor resigned in protest.
These 2 boys kicked down McKeever’s apartment door. The younger boy fired five shots striking Zara McKeever in the head. Her 1 year old child was present in the apartment at the time of her murder.
Do with this info what you will. It seems to me like some useful context in any article about this controversy.
“You’re here to prosecute, not public defend” It was made very clear last fall, MM had the wrong skill set for this position, but our ultra- left DFL was re imagining justice. Stalk, bust in and 5 shots point blank into a defenseless mother right in front of the kids, that was a cold blooded premeditated execution. Evidently our ultra-left didn’t re-imagine the damage their re-imagining will leave with the family and the kids, looks like they don’t count. And what is the judicial system going to salvage from kids who do this, even at 15?
Moriarty grossly mishandled this case, and that I say as someone who thinks her ultimate goal–of reforming how juveniles are handled in prosecutions so they don’t go on to further crimes–is right.
She has not developed, after a career of defending perpetrators of violence, any sympathy for, or even understanding of what crime victims go through, and deserve. Her focus and her sympathies lie with the accused defendants. She again ignored the victim and her family here. As she ignored the girl who was raped, in an astonishing earlier decision to dismiss her case in order to punish a staff county attorney for disobeying Moriarty in a minor issue in court! In that instance Moriarty let a rapist go scot-free, without any punishment at all.
Does Moriarty understand that part of her role is to confer with, understand, try to include consideration of the victim’s family’s desire for revenge, even as she might try to turn that into more compassion? I wish I could see it in her actions.
This is hugely more than just gross negligence. It is the product of where the pendulum of the elected that want political power and give more rights to those that commit crimes than regular law-abiding citizens. It’s just more of the same of why people don’t feel safe and crimes of all levels have been greatly increasing in areas run by people like Moriarty.
It’s one thing to help reform kids that do dumb things and not be in prison for non-violent crimes. But this was clearly a planned and pre-medicated murder. Any normal 15 year old would (and should) know that you don’t go killing people. We can point to things all over society, but everyone knows you don’t go and kill people or you will face severe consequences.
I’ll submit that the biggest thing that Moriarty has right is to go after the adult ex-boyfriend. His actions are sickening. But the kids should have said something to someone before this happened. That these two kids chose to follow through with this violent crime, they need to be put away.
Where are all of the left leaning commenters? Hmmm… Silence
Maybe your definitions are faulty!
Perhaps there just aren’t too many who support Moriarty’s handling of this matter, and instead agree with Walz’s decision. Did that possibility ever cross your mind?
The American left does not operate like the American right. The Dems are the Big Tent party, not the Repubs.
I don’t understand the uproar. This was her EXACT platform when she was campaigning. She didn’t hide the fact she has zero interest in prosecuting violent crime – she’s been transparent about that from the start. Walz supported her, Ellison supported her, Hennepin county voters supported her. Let her do the job she was elected to do.
Well there are a bunch of us that did/do not share that platform, de-fang the criminal prosecution system. Send the perpetrators right back into the community to re-terrorize it.
Yep. And we lost.
True, but I think most people who voted for her saw the D endorsement by her name and checked the box.
I highly doubt the vast majority of voters knew a thing about this person and what she stands for.
The “D” should have been sufficient warning.