The last of five sentences was imposed Wednesday in connection with the murder of Zaria McKeever in Brooklyn Park, a case that sparked outrage among her relatives over what they perceived as a lack of responsibility for the youths who ordered the shooting. from her jealous ex-boyfriend.
Eriana Dewauna Haynes, 25, was sentenced by Hennepin County District Judge William Koch to a term of just under 3½ years, while Koch set aside a 3½-year term for her 25-year-old husband, Tavion Michael Darnell James, and sentenced him. up to one year in the provincial workhouse, with a probationary period of five years. Both previously pleaded guilty to aiding an offender after the fact.
In criminal complaints, the couple was accused of helping John Kamara seek medical treatment for a gunshot wound suffered when his younger brother, Foday Kamara, unloaded his gun during the November 2022 burglary.
Under questioning by police at the hospital, the couple deliberately provided false, misleading information that hampered the early stages of the investigation, prosecutors alleged.
Police said the couple lied when they said Kamara was shot in north Minneapolis in an effort to protect the ex-boyfriend, Erick Haynes, and the teens from suspects in the killing, according to the criminal complaint.
Eriana Haynes and James were staying in the same hotel room as Erick Haynes, Eriana’s brother, the night of the home invasion, the complaint said. She was further accused of lending her car to the teens so they could drive to McKeever’s house and back to the hotel. When the boys returned to the hotel, the couple took John Kamara to the hospital and “a story was concocted to cover up the murder,” according to the complaint.
Hours later, they continued to make false statements to police during interviews at the Brooklyn Park police station, according to the complaint.
A month ago, Koch accepted Foday Kamara’s guilty plea to accessory to intentional murder in the second degree and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
John Kamara, who was 17 when McKeever was killed, was spared adult prison and is serving a two-year sentence in a juvenile facility.
Erick Haynes pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in March, avoiding a lengthy trial, and was sentenced to life in prison in April.
Foday Kamara’s adult criminal conviction marked a hard-fought victory for prosecutors, a year after Attorney General Keith Ellison dropped Attorney Mary Moriarty’s case amid intense public backlash.
At Ellison’s request, Governor Tim Walz took the extremely rare step of reassigning the case, after Walz and Ellison agreed with McKeever’s family that the initial plea offers to the Kamaras were too lenient.
Moriarty offered Foday Kamara, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, a deal to avoid adult prison and adult certification. Instead, he would have served a sentence of about two years in the juvenile detention center in Red Wing and had his probation extended until his 21st birthday.
