Hennepin County to ask Supreme Court to review overturned conviction in Deshaun Hill killing

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said Thursday it will ask Minnesota’s highest court to reconsider the conviction that was tossed out this week by the state Court of Appeals in the 2022 slaying of Deshaun Hill Jr.

In a statement, County Attorney Mary Moriarty said she believes Cody Fohrenkam’s conviction should be reinstated. She added that her office will retry the case in Hennepin County District Court if the Supreme Court declines to review it.

“We believe we charged the right person and, if necessary, we will try this case again,” Moriarty said. “We will bring justice and accountability for this disturbing crime.”

Fohrenkam, a 31-year-old Minneapolis man, was sentenced in March 2023 to more than 38 years in prison in the death of Hill, 15, who played quarterback and was on the honor roll at North High School in Minneapolis.

On the morning of Feb. 9, 2022, Fohrenkam was scouring a north Minneapolis neighborhood for a man who had stolen his cellphone at knifepoint at a corner store. In a chance encounter, he brushed shoulders with Hill, who was walking in the opposite direction to a bus stop. Fohrenkam pulled a gun from his backpack and shot Hill. A jury took less than an hour to convict Fohrenkam of second-degree murder.

In his appeal, Fohrenkam contended that statements he made to investigators in the Carlton County jail should not have been presented during his trial, because they were made after a court ordered his release on an unrelated matter and before he was freed from custody. The state Court of Appeals affirmed Tuesday that the incriminating statements were made while he was illegally detained.

Fohrenkam remains in prison while the appeal and review processes continue. Should the case go back to district court for retrial, Fohrenkam will be transferred to the Hennepin County jail for a bail hearing. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said it would seek “significant bail” in that case.

Chief Hennepin County Public Defender Michael Berger, whose office represented Fohrenkam during the trial, declined to comment on Moriarty’s request to the Supreme Court. On Tuesday, Berger said the state Court of Appeals decision was “directly related to [Fohrenkam’s] constitutional rights.”

William Walker, an attorney representing Hill’s family, said he was confident that Fohrenkam would be convicted again if the case were re-tried in Hennepin County. But he said another trial would be traumatizing for Hill’s family.

“The tragedy is that the family has to relive each and every one of these witnesses,” Walker said in a phone interview.

Hill’s family was “distraught, hurt and saddened” upon learning of the overturned conviction, Walker said. He noted there were between 25 and 30 family members who met Wednesday with Moriarty to discuss their options.

“We’re hopeful the Supreme Court will affirm the trial court’s decision so the family can mourn, properly, the loss of their son,” Walker said.

Star Tribune staff writers Paul Walsh and Liz Sawyer contributed to this report.