Last of sentences imposed stemming from home invasion killing of Zaria McKeever in Brooklyn Park

The last of five sentences were imposed Wednesday in connection with the Brooklyn Park home invasion killing of Zaria McKeever, a case that sparked outrage among her family members for what they viewed as a lack of accountability for the juveniles who carried out the shooting at the behest of her jealous ex-boyfriend.

Eriana Dewauna Haynes, 25, was sentenced by Hennepin County District Judge William Koch to a term just shy of 3½ years, while Koch set aside a 3½-year term for her 25-year-old husband, Tavion Michael Darnell James, and sentenced him to a year in the county workhouse along with five years’ probation. Both pleaded guilty earlier to aiding an offender after the fact.

Criminal complaints accused the couple of helping John Kamara seek medical treatment for a gunshot wound sustained when his younger brother, Foday Kamara, unloaded his weapon during the break-in in November 2022.

Under questioning from police at the hospital, the couple provided intentionally false, misleading information that obstructed early stages of the investigation, prosecutors alleged.

Police said the couple lied when they said Kamara was shot in north Minneapolis in an attempt to protect the ex-boyfriend, Erick Haynes, and the teens from becoming suspects in the killing, according to the charges.

Eriana Haynes and James were staying in the same hotel room as Erick Haynes, Eriana’s brother, on the night of the home invasion, charges said. She was further accused of lending her car to the teens so they could drive to McKeever’s home and back to the hotel. When the boys returned to the hotel, the couple drove John Kamara to the hospital and “a story was concocted to cover up the murder,” according to the charges.

The charges said they continued to provide false statements to police hours later in interviews at the Brooklyn Park police station.

A month ago, Koch accepted Foday Kamara’s guilty plea to aiding and abetting second-degree intentional murder and sentenced him to a 10-year term.

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.

The adult criminal conviction of Foday Kamara marked a hard-fought victory for state prosecutors one year after Attorney General Keith Ellison removed the case from County Attorney Mary Moriarty amid intense public backlash.

At Ellison’s request, Gov. 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 about a two-year sentence at the juvenile correctional facility in Red Wing and extended probation until his 21st birthday.