John Lamont Brown Jr. will spend at least the next 17 years in prison for a shooting motivated by revenge last December outside Willard's Bar in St. Paul's Frogtown neighborhood.
Brown, 30, who also uses the middle name Antonio, pleaded guilty in March to second-degree intentional murder in the death of Albert Lee Hill, 29. Ramsey County District Judge Kathleen Gearin sentenced him Wednesday to almost 27 years -- two-thirds of which would be served in prison and one-third on supervised release.
Hill's sister, Veronica Horton, gave a victim-impact statement, saying her brother's death has been hard on the family, said prosecutor Kaarin Long.
The shooting happened just before 12:30 a.m. Dec. 11 at Thomas Avenue and Grotto Street. Hill and his girlfriend went into the bar but a few minutes later he told her that they had to leave immediately, the charges said.
Brown, known as "J-Rock," held the door for them. The girlfriend heard Hill tell her to "go, run." When she turned back, she saw Hill fall.
The charges said Brown had been beaten up a few days earlier at a nearby VFW and had vowed that his attacker "would pay."
PAT PHEIFER
