A Brooklyn Park teenager has pleaded guilty to fatally shooting his girlfriend's brother in north Minneapolis and will receive a prison sentence of more than 17 years.
Devante M. Sletten, 17, entered his plea Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court to unintentional second-degree murder in connection with the shooting of Edwin L. Vaughn Jr. on May 29 in the 2600 block of N. Upton Avenue in Minneapolis.
The plea agreement calls for Sletten, who was 16 at the time, to a term of 17 1⁄2 years. With credit for time in custody since his arrest, Sletten will serve about 11 years in prison and the balance on supervised release.
The term is a 2 1⁄2-year upward departure from state sentencing guidelines, according to the County Attorney's Office. Formal sentencing before Judge Nicole Engisch is scheduled for Jan. 5.
According to witnesses and video surveillance cited in the criminal complaint:
Vaughn, 19, of Minneapolis, and his girlfriend had been having arguments, and she told him that her brother, Sletten, wanted to fight him.
As the two are fighting surrounded by onlookers, three gunshots are heard, and Vaughn "reacts as if he has been shot," the complaint read.
Video from a home nearby captured Sletten standing next to a car and shooting three times before getting back in the vehicle and fleeing the scene. Vaughn died at North Memorial Health Hospital.
