While serving as Minnesota’s governor, Kamala Harris’ vice-presidential pick, Tim Walz, made headlines for commuting the sentence of a teenager convicted of murdering an 11-year-old girl. Myron Burrell, the teen in question, began facing trial for a separate charge on Monday, coinciding with the start of the Democratic National Convention.
In 2002, Burrell was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Tyesha Edwards, a young girl who was tragically killed by a stray bullet while doing her homework. At the time, police alleged that Burrell, then 16 years old, had fired the shot in an attempt to target a rival gang member.
In 2020, Walz, as a member of the Minnesota Board of Pardons, voted to commute Burrell’s sentence. Since his release, Burrell has been arrested twice. His first arrest came in 2023 on charges of illegal firearm possession and fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance. He was arrested again in 2024 on another count of fifth-degree controlled substance possession, after police reportedly found drugs in his vehicle, including a pill that tested positive for methamphetamine. The jury trial for the 2023 charges against Burrell, now 37, began in Hennepin County on Monday morning.
The initial sentence