Prosecution, defense debate Minneapolis grandmother killer's intent as trial opens

Joshua Ezeka admitted to snatching his handgun and running out of the house after getting a frantic phone call that May day two years ago. He even confessed to having emptied his clip — nine rounds in all — at a rival's approaching car.

All but one of the shots sailed past their intended target, with several slamming into a blue minivan driven by 58-year-old Minneapolis grandmother Birdell Beeks.

Whether or not Ezeka intended to kill Beeks is beside the point — he fired the fatal shot, prosecutors told a jury during opening statements in his murder trial, which began Tuesday in a Hennepin County courtroom.

"If you were trying to kill somebody and you kill somebody else, then it doesn't matter: You will get charged with premeditated murder," said prosecutor Chris Freeman. "Those words, 'Baby, they got me,' were the last words that Ms. Beeks would ever speak," he told the jury.

Ezeka faces multiple charges, including first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty.

Beeks' slaying in May 2016 galvanized public outrage over gun violence in parts of the city and led to a brief gang truce.

The defense's case hinges on the question of intent.

Ezeka's attorneys argued in their opening remarks that the defendant feared for his safety when he got a call that a group of rival gang members were headed to his house, which had been targeted in previous shootings. He grabbed his gun, ran outside and started firing wildly at the rival's gold Toyota Corolla. Instead, several of the shots struck Beeks in her minivan, as she inched up to the intersection of Penn and 21st avenues N. Her 16-year-old granddaughter, who was also in the vehicle, wasn't hurt. Beeks died later in a nearby hospital.

"It was an accident. Josh didn't try to kill Ms. Beeks. Josh didn't want to kill anyone. He wanted closure," his attorney, Erik Beitzel, told jurors. "That was a thoughtless and negligent attempt to send a message, but as tragic as it is, as senseless as it is, you must keep an open mind."

Afterward, Ezeka jumped into the waiting car of the friend who called him, Freddy Scott, and remained a fugitive until his arrest eight months later. Ezeka didn't turn himself in out of shame for killing an innocent woman, the defense argued. Scott pleaded guilty last fall to aiding an offender after the fact and will be sentenced next month.

With the help of an FBI special agent, two city homicide detectives linked Ezeka to the slaying through ballistics evidence and cellphone records that placed him at the crime scene, Freeman said.

In brief but emotional testimony on Tuesday, Sa'Lesha Beeks described her mother as a community matriarch who looked out for neighborhood kids and whose house was the scene of many a Sunday dinner.

"She was the pillar of our family," Sa'Lesha Beeks said, pointing out that her mother had left behind three children and four grandchildren.

Libor Jany • 612-673-4064 Twitter:@StribJany