A Minnesota murderer who was released from a life sentence after a panel determined that a flawed investigation may have resulted in his wrongful conviction in the death of an 11-year-old girl will be sent to prison again, this time for gun and drug possession.
Myon Burrell, 38, was sentenced to 60 months — or five years — in prison on Thursday after being convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm.
Hennepin County Assistant Chief Judge Mark Kappelhoff called the defendant to task.
“I cannot think of a single legal reason why you would be driving down with an illegal firearm and drugs in your car. “But you did,” he said.
Burrell told his supporters in court, “Y’all don’t stop fighting,” as he was taken into custody, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.
His lawyers are appealing, arguing that the traffic stop and search of his vehicle without a warrant was unconstitutional, according to local NBC affiliate KARE.
First reported on Burrell’s arrest in 2023, when he was pulled over during a traffic stop in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. Police stopped his 2016 white Chevrolet Tahoe for driving erratically, “going over the lane divider and the fog line” and exceeding the posted speed limit.
Police discovered a gun, which Burrell was not permitted to possess, as well as drugs, inside the SUV.
A criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime details the August 29 arrest in Hennepin County. Around 11 a.m., a Robbinsdale police officer was on routine patrol when he noticed a white SUV drifting over the road’s center line into the other lane without signaling.
As the vehicle passed, the officer noticed in his rearview mirror that it was straddling the center line, so he made a U-turn to catch up to the SUV.
The officer noticed the white SUV driving faster than other traffic and exceeding the speed limit of 30 mph. When the vehicle’s tires crossed the center line again, the officer conducted a traffic stop.
As the officer approached the driver’s side of the SUV, Burrell rolled down the window.
“Smoke appeared to billow out of the vehicle when the window was rolled down, and the officer detected a very strong odor of burnt marijuana and observed what appeared to be marijuana remnants on the center console of the SUV,” according to the complaint.
The driver’s eyes were red and glossy, with dilated pupils, according to the document. The officer directed Burrell to exit the vehicle for field sobriety tests.
“After observing some indicia of intoxication during one of the initial field sobriety tests, the officer advised he was going to look in the car for marijuana after seeing the smoke and the remnants on the console, and Defendant told him he could not look in his vehicle,” according to the lawsuit.
When the officer instructed Burrell to take a seat in his squad car, he began walking away. The officer took him by the arm to sit in his squad car, but Burrell pulled away and began “to actively resist the officer,” according to the document.
“After more efforts to resist, defendant was eventually placed in handcuffs and secured in the officer’s squad car,” according to the lawsuit.
Police discovered a Glock 17 9 mm handgun with an extended magazine in the center console, along with marijuana remnants.
Officers discovered two bags of suspected marijuana in the back seat, a baggie containing 21 clear capsules with a crystal-like powder, another baggie containing 16 suspected ecstasy pills, small plastic baggies, and a digital scale.
At Thursday’s hearing, Burrell’s attorneys requested that their client remain free on bond pending the appeal, and they called community leaders to testify on his behalf.
However, Kappelhoff was unconvinced, noting that, in addition to the current conviction, Burrell has several pending cases related to other drug arrests that have yet to be adjudicated.
“That’s the third in a series, and there’s a pattern,” Kappelhoff said, according to the Star Tribune, before ordering his immediate transfer to prison.
Burrell was first arrested at the age of 16 for the murder of Tyesha Edwards. Tyesha was inside her home with her younger sister, doing homework and watching TV, when a bullet struck her in the chest around 3 p.m. on November 22, 2002. She died in the hospital.
The Associated Press and American Public Media Reports conducted a yearlong investigation in 2020, which revealed serious flaws. The reporting prompted a review of his case, and his sentence was commuted to 20 years.
He served for 18 years and was released on December 15, 2020.
