MINNEAPOLIS — The man convicted in the murder of Minneapolis North teen Deshaun Hill, Jr. was sentenced to more than 38.5 years in prison Tuesday in Hennepin County.
Cody Fohrenkam, who was found guilty of second-degree murder last month after the jury determined he shot and killed Hill during a chance encounter Feb. 9, 2022, received the maximum allowed sentence of 463 months.
Prosecutors said Fohrenkam shot and killed Hill after the two accidentally brushed shoulders while walking on a sidewalk along Glenwood Avenue. After the verdict, one juror said the video showed "someone pacing around who had a bad day and decided to take it out on someone else."
Investigators said at least one witness said Fohrenkam pulled a handgun and fired three or four shots at Hill, striking him in the head. Hill, who was the quarterback for the North Polars football team, later died at the hospital.
On Tuesday, family and friends provided emotional impact statements in court where they described Hill as funny, smart and a role model.
"There are little kids that walk around our neighborhood that say, 'I want to be like D-Hill," said Hill's former coach Christopher Johnson during his impact statement. "'Not Michael Jordan, not Kobe Bryant, not Tom Brady, I want to be like D-Hill. ... That's what you took."
Prosecutors called a short list of witnesses throughout the trial, including Hill's mother, various Minneapolis police officers and a woman who saw what happened and ran to Hill's aid. They relied heavily on surveillance video that did not capture the moment of the shooting but reflected the aftermath, when a man, who prosecutors identified as Fohrenkam, fled the scene.
In their opening statements, Fohrenkam's defense team made clear their position that the state lacked evidence to prove he was the killer. Attorneys pointed to the fact that the murder weapon has not been found and emphasized inconsistencies in the description of the suspect.
Prosecutors stuck to the script in a closing argument late last month that lasted about 30 minutes. In it, assistant Hennepin County Attorney Dan Allard revisited all of the evidence presented over the week-long trial, including surveillance photos from outside Wally’s Food, where Fohrenkam was knocked to the ground and robbed of his phone hours before Hill was shot. The defendant allegedly shot the teen while searching for the person responsible.
Allard zeroed in on the red pants the state says were seen in Fohrenkam's backpack inside Wally’s Food and maintains the defendant changed into them after he was robbed and knocked to the ground in wet snow.
Prosecutors showed the jury panel images from surveillance cameras that they say capture Fohrenkam wearing the red pants with the same backpack and shoes as the man who shot Hill . Allard told jurors they must find that Fohrenkam shot Hill three times with intent in order to find him guilty of second-degree murder.
Defense attorney Lisa Skrzeczkoski argued that there was no proof Fohrenkam was the man seen in the red pants and that there was no evidence he changed his clothes. She said several witnesses gave conflicting descriptions of the suspect and pointed to mishandling of reports by Minneapolis police throughout the case as a reason to find Fohrenkam not guilty.
"All those pieces put together, the story of who did and it was Cody Fohrenkam," one of the jurors told KARE 11.
"This sentence brings legal closure to a tragic and senseless act of gun violence that devastated those who knew and loved Deshaun and everyone in the North High School community and beyond," said Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty in a press release. "I am grateful to the community members, law enforcement, and our team in the County Attorney’s office who played a role in delivering justice for Deshaun and his family. We must address the issues that make violence a viable decision for far too many people. We will continue to work with law enforcement to aggressively prosecute violence and hold those responsible accountable."
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