Life, no parole for gunman who killed man on Christmas Day in Hibbing

A 32-year-old man will spend life in prison for fatally shooting another man on a Hibbing street on Christmas Day nearly three years ago.

Jerome D. Spann was sentenced Tuesday in St. Louis County District Court in connection with fatally shooting Jeryel "Jason" McBeth, 34, and wounding Jamien Stuckey, who was 25 at the time.

Spann was found guilty in September by Judge Rachel Sullivan of first-degree murder and second-degree assault. The conviction on the murder count requires a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

"Every single action in life has a ripple effect beyond our comprehension," Assistant St. Louis County Attorney Jessica Fralich said in a statement after sentencing. "All I can hope for Mr. McBeth's family is that, today, they have seen justice served, they can now put this chapter of grief behind them, and they can turn the corner to look for healing and peace."

On Christmas Day 2018, Spann walked up to a man on a residential Hibbing street, said, "What up now, Jason?" and put three bullets in McBeth's body, according to prosecutors. Spann also shot Stuckey.

McBeth, of Hibbing, was taken to a hospital and died. Stuckey, also of Hibbing, survived.

In an apparent bid to settle a score following an altercation the night before, Spann found McBeth standing outside talking to neighbors, according to court records. Spann then got out of an SUV, took a revolver from his waistband and fired five bullets, three of which hit McBeth.

Spann fled in a vehicle with an unidentified man and was arrested three days later at a home in St. Paul, where he had relatives, according to the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Spann's criminal history in Minnesota includes two convictions for illegal gun possession.