Minneapolis school board to vote on $500,000 settlement with family of Deshaun Hill Jr.

Hill was fatally shot in February while walking home from school.

January 6, 2023 at 9:50PM
The Minneapolis school board will consider a $500,000 settlement next week with the family of Deshaun Hill Jr., a North High student who was fatally shot last year walking home from school. (Alex Kormann, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Minneapolis school board will vote Tuesday on a $500,000 settlement between the district and the family of Deshaun Hill Jr., a North Community High School student who was fatally shot last year while walking home from school.

Hill, a sophomore and rising star on the football team, died Feb. 10 — one day after he was found with a gunshot wound near the intersection of Golden Valley Road and Penn Avenue N.

On the same day Hill was shot, a group of North students left school to hold a sit-in at City Hall to protest the death of Amir Locke, who was shot and killed by Minneapolis police.

A North High classmate held the programs during the final prayer at the memorial service for Deshaun Hill Jr., 15, on Feb. 22. (Jeff Wheeler, Star Tribune file/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The shooting that killed Hill happened while those students and Principal Mauri Friestleben made their way to City Hall. In a letter to families in May, Friestleben wrote that she did not follow district protocols for student-led civil actions and was "strongly advised" not to join the walkout.

Friestleben was put on leave after the incident, but that decision was reversed after the community rallied in support of her.

Neither the district nor Hill's family commented Friday.

Cody Fohrenkam, the man accused of second-degree intentional murder in Hill's death, is set to go on trial this month.

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about the writer

Mara Klecker

Reporter

Mara Klecker covers suburban K-12 education for the Star Tribune.

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