Judge rejects gag order in teen's Brooklyn Park home invasion murder case

A Hennepin County judge on Monday denied a proposed gag order in the murder case against a 15-year-old boy accused of shooting Zaria McKeever five times during a Brooklyn Park home invasion last fall, but strongly encouraged the victim's family to limit statements to the media.

In an hourlong hearing which was closed to the press, Judge Todd Fellman advised that continuing to speak out publicly on the case could endanger the teen's ability to secure a fair trial.

It marked the second court appearance since Gov. Tim Walz agreed to appoint Attorney General Keith Ellison to the criminal case. That move came after backlash to a controversial plea deal that Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty offered to two teenage brothers accused of gunning down the young mother as part of a plot devised by her ex-boyfriend, Erick Haynes.

On Monday afternoon, McKeever's relatives arrived at the Juvenile Justice Center in downtown Minneapolis, hoping Fellman might reject the plea deal outright. No decisions were made. Instead, he continued the case until May 26.

Family members were notified over the weekend that the boy's defense team was seeking a gag order in the high-profile case to maintain their client's right to fair trial. They expressed frustration at the move.

"There's been more Mary in the news the last couple weeks than [us]," said McKeever's stepfather, Paul Greer. "The AG has not been saying anything, for the most part."

Greer and other supporters declined to comment further, citing the judge's admonition.

Assistant Minnesota Attorney General Erin Eldridge, who took over as lead prosecutor in the case, and the teen's attorney, Mike Holland, both declined to comment.

Hennepin County prosecutors agreed not to seek a conviction in adult court for the teenagers, ages 15 and 17, and spare them lengthy prison sentences in exchange for testifying against Haynes. Each boy was offered approximately two years at a juvenile facility in Red Wing and extended probation until their 21st birthdays — a deal that McKeever's relatives decried as a miscarriage of justice and Ellison later criticized as "inappropriate."

Moriarty has held firm in her position that she was following the science on adolescent brain development and denounced intervention by state leaders as an "undemocratic" overreach. The teen's attorney, Mike Holland, also rebuked the move in a recent court hearing, reportedly calling it "a hostile takeover."

Juvenile proceedings for those younger than 16 years old at the time of their felony offense are not open to the public.

The Star Tribune generally does not identify minors that young unless they are charged as adults.

The boy's older brother, 17-year-old John Kamara, already accepted the plea agreement and is serving time in Red Wing.

Leah Erickson, the assistant Hennepin County attorney who voluntarily removed herself from the case in protest following Moriarty's decision to not seek an adult conviction, has accepted a job with Ellison's office, according to two sources with knowledge of the decision. It's not immediately clear whether she will be assigned to help prosecute the alleged shooter.