Split verdict in sex-for-money case

A Ramsey County jury returned a split verdict Friday afternoon for a St. Paul man who beat a fellow tenant to death after a sex-for-money deal went bad.

The jury convicted Michael Sherman of unintentional second-degree murder but acquitted him of intentional second-degree murder, which carries a significantly longer sentence. Jurors deliberated about a day.

The prosecution argued that Sherman, 53, killed Lelia Kim Scott, 44, in January because of a disagreement over payment for sex.

"It's not what we wanted, but it's a little bit of closure," said Scott's daughter, Latrice Scott. "It's like a big dream ... a nightmare."

Sherman struck Scott three times with a wooden baseball bat, causing fractures to her face, knocking out two teeth and leaving teeth marks in the bat, prosecutor Rosita Severin said Thursday as she showed jurors graphic autopsy photos.

"That is excessive and it's unreasonable," she said during closing arguments.

Defense attorney Murad Mohammad didn't deny that Sherman beat Scott to death. He said his client acted legally in defending his home.

Scott performed a sex act on Sherman for $20 in his apartment the evening of Jan. 20. She returned about 5:45 a.m. Jan. 21 and tried to persuade Sherman to pay $20 for more sex, Mohammad said. Sherman turned her down and, in a series of written notes, tried to tell her to leave. She persisted, the defense said, and he paid her $10 for oral sex.

But when she saw $155 in his wallet, she went after the cash, grabbing at Sherman who gestured for her to leave. He then had to fight her off, Mohammad said.

"This is a scared and frightened deaf person in the early morning hours," Mohammad said Thursday. Scott had punched Sherman in the mouth in 2008, he said.

Scott's mother, Clarice Scott, said Friday that her daughter was not a thief.

"It really hurt me," Scott said of Sherman's testimony. "I'm just glad it's kind of over."

Mohammad said his client struck Scott twice in quick succession, showing a lack of calculation, and not three times.

Severin refuted that last statement in her rebuttal, pointing out that Sherman struck Scott after she was already on the floor and incapable of attacking him. Severin displayed side-by-side photos of Scott and Sherman to the jury: She, bloody and beaten. He, shirtless and unharmed.

"Look at the defendant," she said. "Healthy, robust, strong. No injuries."

Sherman will be sentenced Oct. 4. A mid-range sentence for someone with no major criminal history is 12.5 years for unintentional second-degree murder. A mid-range sentence for the charge he was acquitted of runs about 25 years.

Ramsey County District Judge Teresa Warner revoked Sherman's bail. He will remain in jail until sentencing.