Under new law, Rocori school shooter, accomplice in vicious Minneapolis murder to bid for release

When Jason McLaughlin was sent to prison after killing two of his classmates at Rocori High School in 2003, he was sentenced to life for a crime he committed as a 15-year-old. Brian Flowers was given a life sentence five years later for being an accomplice to a vicious double murder in Minneapolis when he was 16.

Any chance the two had at parole wouldn’t come until they had served at least 30 years in prison.

But now, after a law change that formally repealed life sentences without parole for juveniles, the two men will have their cases heard by a parole eligibility board on Friday and could be ordered released from prison.

McLaughlin fatally shot fellow classmates Seth Bartell, 14, and Aaron Rollins, 17, with a handgun he took from a dresser where his father — who worked for the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office — kept several guns.

During the trial, prosecutors played a videotape of an investigator’s interview with McLaughlin where he said he was upset after being teased and only meant to hurt Bartell.

McLaughlin, now 36, was convicted of first- and second-degree murder and is currently imprisoned at the Oak Park Heights prison.

Flowers and his friend Stafon Thompson were convicted of the 2008 murders of Katricia Daniels, 35, and her 10-year-old son, Robert Shepard, at their home. Daniels was stabbed more than 190 times and her son was bludgeoned with a television.

Attorneys argued Flowers played a lesser role than Thompson; while Thompson was covered in blood and had cuts on his hands, Flowers had one drop of blood on his shoes. He was convicted on four counts of aiding and abetting first-degree murder.

Flowers, now 33, is currently imprisoned at the Rush City prison. His case has been litigated extensively for more than a decade. Last month, the Minnesota Supreme Court dismissed his latest appeal.

The change allowing McLaughlin’s and Flowers' parole eligibility came in 2023, when the Legislature made Minnesota the 28th state in the country to end life sentences for juvenile offenders. The law also created a new Supervised Release Board under the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC).

Any inmate serving a life sentence is eligible for review by the board, as long as they have reached their minimum term of imprisonment, which varies from case to case. The board can also take consecutive life sentences and make them concurrent.

The board is led by DOC Commissioner Paul Schnell and its members are selected for their expertise in psychology and criminal corrections. It currently includes Christine Bray, Jo Earhart, Andrew Larson, Jody Nelson, Sherly Ramstad and Donald Streufert. Streufert and Nelson are youth development members and vote on juvenile cases. The leaders of the four legislative caucuses each appointed a member. Gov. Tim Walz directly appointed two members.

Minnesota hasn’t had a parole board since the 1970s when the state created sentencing guidelines. Before the creation of this board, the commissioner of the DOC had sole decisionmaking power to grant parole for anyone with a life sentence who had served at least 30 years in prison.

The new board has been reviewing cases since July 2024 and in that time has granted parole to 13 people and denied parole to 42. One defendant was initially denied then approved four months later.

A DOC spokesperson said individuals being reviewed get to speak to the board over Zoom and can have an advocate with them. The board also considers information collected from prison staff, the community where the inmate was sentenced and any victims or their surviving family members. Victims can write letters to the board, speak with members in private or speak at the hearing. At the review, the board could assign a release date or continue the case with directives to be completed before the next review, according to the DOC.

Rocori Superintendent Kevin Enerson, who has been with the district for two years, said he was unaware of Friday’s hearing until contacted by the Minnesota Star Tribune.

He didn’t comment about the possibility of McLaughlin being released earlier than anticipated, but said the shooting is still top of mind for some staff members who were there in 2003 and some former students who now have kids in Rocori schools.

“The children that experienced that event are now parents of students in this building,” he said. “It’s still pretty raw.”

The families of the victims raised money to erect two granite pillars outside Rocori High School. Every year, school leaders make note of the anniversary but try not to dwell on it, Enerson said.

“We can honor things but we want [students] to just have a regular school experience,” he said.

For an individual to be granted parole, they need a majority of members to vote in favor of release.