Maximum sentence for Tyesha's death

A 22-year-old gang member who shot an 11-year-old girl in her south Minneapolis home received the maximum sentence Thursday from a Hennepin County District Court judge.

Judge Charles Porter called Tyesha Edwards' 2002 murder by Myon Burrell the "most extreme example of indirect effects of gang activity." He sentenced Burrell to 30 years, after which Burrell will be required to serve terms of five years, 15 years and six months. He is eligible for credit for good behavior on all but the first 30 years. Burrell already has spent five years in jail and will receive credit for that time.

Before he sentenced Burrell, Porter recalled that in 1986 he presided at a trial in the gang-related murder of a young woman. He said he had believed that case to be so shocking that it would serve to curb gang violence in the Twin Cities.

It did not.

Although he didn't identify the earlier killing, Porter was the judge in the 1986 case in which Gangster Disciples member John Scruggs was convicted of first-degree murder for engineering the death of Christine Kreitz, a gang member he suspected of disloyalty.

Burrell shot Tyesha while aiming at Tim Oliver, a member of the Gangster Disciples who has since been killed. Burrell was affiliated with the rival Rolling 30s Bloods gang.

In a one-hour sentencing, Tyesha's family members gave wrenching statements about deep loss and community pain. Her death stunned the Twin Cities in November 2002 and politicians rallied around the family, but none attended the sentencing or retrial of Burrell.

Porter said he gave Burrell the maximum because he killed a "truly innocent child" whose "death represents gang violence at its most hurtful."

Burrell was convicted last month by Porter in a retrial on multiple counts in the death of Tyesha, who was hit by a bullet that came through the wall of her family's home as she did her homework at the dining room table. Burrell was convicted in 2003, but the state Supreme Court set aside the guilty verdict, saying statements he made to police were inadmissible.

Assistant County Attorney Mike Furnstahl pushed for Thursday's long sentence, saying Burrell "might have been young at the time, but he was making choices" and trying to make a name for himself as a Bloods gunman.

"These gangs are ruining our community, ruining our society," Furnstahl said. "There should be no mercy in the courtrooms, the same way they show no mercy in the streets."

The baby-faced Burrell and his father, Michael Toussaint, maintained his innocence. Burrell spoke for a few minutes. "I guess I could sit up here and try to express my feelings in words, but words could never express the way I feel," he said before declaring his innocence and disappointment with his second conviction. "I believed the truth would come out."

He said he feels sorry for what happened to Tyesha and prays every day for the family to get closure.

Burrell looked on wide-eyed as Tyesha's family spoke, including her mother Linda Longino, father, Jimmie Edwards, brother Jimmie III and her younger sister, Lakia Winborn.

"My daughter wanted to be something," Jimmie Edwards said. "She was a sweet little girl. I want to let everybody know we're still hurting."

Tyesha's brother said both his family and the Burrells lost. "It's just messed up how gang violence is affecting the community. Little kids are losing their lives," Jimmie Edwards III said.

Longino called for change. "People are so afraid of all the retaliation you have to deal with to get justice in our community," she said. But she talked, too, about a personal pain so strong "it literally takes your breath away."

To Burrell she said, "Boys make excuses; real men make changes."

Burrell's father vowed to keep fighting for his son, saying witnesses against him lied because of plea deals. He talked about his own guilt about being in prison for 10 years. "When he was growing up, I was locked up," said Toussaint.

Rochelle Olson • 612-673-1747