The suspect in the 2022 murder of Deshaun Hill pleads guilty

Nearly four years after student-athlete Deshaun Hill was fatally shot in north Minneapolis, the man accused of killing him pleaded guilty Tuesday.

The Hennepin County Prosecutor’s Office said it reached a plea agreement with 33-year-old Cody Vorenkam while the retrial was underway.

Forinkam had He had previously been convicted By killing the 15-year-old while returning home from school in February 2022, but that The conviction was overturned. The appeals court found that prosecutors failed to prove that police lawfully obtained statements from Voerhenkam.

Under the terms of a plea agreement reached Tuesday, Vorenkam pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He is scheduled to receive a prison sentence of just over 28 years — with credit for nearly four years of time served — when he is sentenced on March 2.

“Deshaun Hill was loved by his family, friends and community. He had an unforgettable impact on his peers and community, encouraging other students to stay in school and serving as a beacon of light to the youth in our community,” Hennepin County Prosecutor Mary Moriarty said in a statement after the petition. “To Deshaun’s loved ones, my thoughts are with you. “I hope that the resolution of this issue after four long years will bring a small measure of peace.”

The statement from Moriarty’s office noted that prosecutors, upon retrial, “faced significant evidentiary challenges that did not exist during the first trial, including the exclusion of Mr. Vorenkam’s statement.”

“The Hennepin County Prosecutor’s Office believes that this plea agreement provides a measure of justice and finality to the family and the community. The plea agreement also ensures that Mr. Vorenkam cannot appeal any issues that may arise at a second trial.”

Witnesses and surveillance video placed Vorenkam at the scene, court documents said Shooting on February 9, 2022. The complaint did not detail a motive, but prosecutors said during the first trial that Vorenkam became increasingly angry after an unknown person punched him and stole his phone earlier that day.

After Deshaun left North High School that afternoon, Vohrenkam confronted him on the sidewalk and fired three shots. One of them hit Deshaun while he was walking wearing an orthopedic shoe due to a broken foot.

After Vohrenkam was sentenced for the first time in 2023, Deshaun’s family, friends and coaches were emotional I remembered him An honor student and star athlete at North University with a promising future – someone who younger kids looked up to, and whose death brought pain not only to his family, but to the entire community.