MINNEAPOLIS— Two people who helped cover up the murder of Zaria McKeever were convicted in court on Wednesday.
Eriana Haynes and Tavion James each pleaded guilty to aiding an offender after the fact. The two, who were romantically involved at the time, took one of the teens who burst into McKeever’s apartment to the hospital and lied to police officers, court documents say.
Haynes was sentenced to 41 months, while James received a 42-month sentence, suspended for five years.
In November 2022, Erick Haynes – Eriana Haynes’ brother – handed two teenage brothers a gun and instructed them to scare McKeever’s new boyfriend. McKeever was the mother of his 1-year-old child, and he was angry that their relationship had ended.
The teens kicked in the door of McKeever’s Brooklyn Park apartment. Foday Kamara, who was 15 at the time, shot McKeever nine times and accidentally shot his brother in the foot. McKeever’s friend jumped out of the window and escaped.
Then Eriana Haynes and James took the brother to the hospital, where they told police officers he had been shot in north Minneapolis. It ultimately hampered the investigation, according to court documents.
Erick Haynes, Eriana Haynes and Tavion James pleaded guilty in April. Erick Haynes was convicted to life in prison.
Kamara pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal that required him to testify against Eriana Haynes and James in exchange for the dismissal of a second charge against him. He was convicted up to more than 10 years.
Kamara was originally offered a plea deal by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, who wanted him and his brother to undergo rehabilitation rather than serve a prison sentence. McKeever’s family was furious and successfully lobbied Gov. Tim Walz to intervene and refer the case to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison without Moriarty’s approval — a move that hadn’t happened in the state in nearly three decades. Moriarty called Walz’s decision “undemocratic.”
Note: The above video originally aired on May 8, 2024.
