On a Tuesday afternoon in June of 2019, Steven Markey, a 39-year-old Caucasian male, was sitting in his parked car in Northeast Minneapolis when his life was abruptly cut short. It was just before 5 p.m. on June 11th when two teenagers, with bandanas obscuring their faces and armed with semi-automatic pistols, approached his vehicle near the intersection of 14th Avenue Northeast and Tyler Street Northeast.
The teenagers, aged 15 and 16, were attempting an armed robbery.
The 16-year-old, Jered Ohsman, later admitted to police that he ordered Markey out of the car. He claimed he saw Markey reach for something, which prompted him to fire his weapon. More shots were fired as Markey, wounded, tried to drive away. His car traveled a short distance before crashing into a building at 14th and Central Avenue. Despite the efforts of emergency responders who transported him to a local medical center, Steven Markey died from multiple gunshot wounds.
The two young assailants fled the scene, running through alleyways and hiding a backpack containing the guns under a set of stairs. Their crime spree, however, did not end there. Later that evening, they were involved in a car theft in St. Louis Park and a burglary in New Hope. A police pursuit of the stolen vehicle ended in a crash, leading to the arrest of both teenagers.
Both youths were initially charged in juvenile court with second-degree murder for Markey's death. The Hennepin County Attorney's Office sought to have them both certified to be tried as adults. Jered Ohsman, who was 16 at the time of the murder, was certified as an adult, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to 21 years in prison.
The case of the younger accomplice, Husayn Braveheart, who was 15 at the time, followed a more contentious path. After a lengthy appeals process that reached the Minnesota Supreme Court, he was also certified as an adult. However, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office offered him a controversial plea deal that involved probation instead of more prison time, citing the progress he had made in treatment programs during his four years in custody. This decision was met with outrage and a feeling of re-victimization by Markey's family. A judge initially rejected the plea deal, but in December, Braveheart was ultimately sentenced to time served after pleading guilty to a lesser charge of attempted assault, with the murder charge being dropped. He was also given probation for two counts of aggravated robbery. Subsequently, warrants were issued for his arrest for probation violations.
