Myon Demarlo Burrell, whose life sentence in the 2002 murder of 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards was commuted in 2020 by a panel that included Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, was arrested this week on a new drug charge — his second felony arrest and charges in just months.
Burrell, now 38, was jailed on Thursday and was charged on Friday with felony fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance.
Charges say Burrell was pulled over on Thursday as part of an investigation by the Hennepin County Violent Offender Task Force (VOTF) based on a tip in the last month that Burrell had been seen in a white truck with a firearm and was reported to be engaged in drug sales, including fentanyl and MDMA.
Based on the new information and Burrell’s other recent arrest and charges, a search warrant was obtained to search Burrell’s vehicle and residence where he’d been staying overnight.
During Thursday’s traffic stop, Burrell initially refused to roll down the window and took a long period of time to open the door. Officers could not see what was happening inside the vehicle due to the dark window tint, charges say.
Inside Burrell’s vehicle, officers eventually found a pill in the driver’s door handle pocket that field tested positive for methamphetamine, as well as “chunks” of suspected controlled substances on the floor of the vehicle. Inside Burrell’s residence, officers located a suitcase containing $60,000 in cash along with a business card with Burrell’s name.
Burrell was pulled over at the end of August 2023 for erratic driving in Robbinsdale and was subsequently charged with illegal possession of a firearm as a felon and fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance. The case was turned over to the Dakota County Attorney’s Office for a charging decision due to Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty’s conflict of interest involving Burrell in that she previously championed his release from prison and subsequently paid him to work for her election campaign.
The new charge added on Friday against Burrell was also filed by the Dakota County Attorney’s Office, according to a press release issued Friday afternoon by Kathryn Keena’s office, which cited the same conflict of interest involving the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
A new bail amount has been set at $100,000 in the new drug case. Burrell had been bailed out by the Minnesota Freedom Fund following his gun and drug charges last September, a case which is still active and is on track for a jury trial. The controversial bail fund put up $100,000 cash for Burrell’s release in September.
Burrell spent 18 years in prison following his conviction on first-degree murder for the benefit of a gang related to a shooting in which Edwards was killed by an errant bullet that entered her south Minneapolis home while she sat at the dining room table doing her homework.
Activists, including Moriarty, who spent decades as a public defender, advocated to have Burrell’s sentence commuted, citing his young age of 16 at the time of the crime. Claims were also raised that Burrell was wrongly convicted of the crime. That claim served to help tank Amy Klobuchar’s run for president in 2020 as she had served as Hennepin County attorney at the time of Burrell’s prosecution.
Following a review in December 2020 by the Minnesota Board of Pardons’ three-person panel that included Walz, Ellison, and former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, Walz and Ellison voted to commute Burrell’s sentence to 20 years and for him to be immediately released from prison. Gildea recused herself from the decision.
Burrell is scheduled to appear in court on Monday on the new drug charge, and remained in custody as of late Friday night.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
