MINNEAPOLIS — A judge sentenced a Minneapolis man to 27 years in prison for the murder of his neighbor.
On Thursday afternoon, Demetrius Wynne, 21, was given a sentence of 324 months with 1,044 days of credit for time served.
In July 2015, police officers found the body of Susan Spiller inside her Minneapolis home while doing a welfare check. The 68-year-old artist and community activist died of "complex homicidal violence," according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, but the person responsible for Spiller's death remained a mystery.
For four years, the case went unsolved until Wynne's fingerprints made their way into the police database.
Prosecutors say Wynne broke into Spiller's home and stabbed her to death. Wynne was 14-years-old at the time and he was Spiller's neighbor.
Last month, a jury found Wynne guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Spiller.
Spiller is remembered by friends and the community as a beloved artist who was known for her colorful work with fused glass.
"She was the kindest, most generous soul," Spiller's friend Daune Atter told KARE 11 after Wynne was charged in 2019.