Teenager involved in 2022 Minneapolis murder sentenced to 4 years in prison

A 19-year-old charged in connection to a 2022 murder in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis was sentenced to four years in prison Thursday but will get credit for nearly two years already served.

Court documents from Hennepin County showed Jaqwon James Smith was sentenced on two charges, one for second-degree assault and another for illegal possession of ammo/firearm.

Two other charges of aiding and abetting murder in the second-degree and first-degree aiding and abetting a riot were dismissed.

Smith was sentenced to 36 months for the assault charge and 48 months for the riot charge.

The sentences will run concurrently, and Smith will receive credit for 708 days, meaning he will only serve just over two years. Smith was charged back in 2022 as an adult when he was 17 years old in connection to the death of Rayshawn Earl James Brown.

The charges against another man in connection with the shooting, 27-year-old Leontawan Lentez Holt, were dismissed on Wednesday after Holt was found guilty in a federal racketeering case, which carries the possibility of a life sentence in prison.

Court documents state that Brown was found with a gunshot wound near Hennepin Avenue South and Lagoon Avenue at around 11:55 p.m. on April 23, 2022, by Minneapolis Police.

While a good samaritan and emergency services attempted to save Brown’s life, he was declared dead at the scene.

It was later determined, according to charging documents, that Smith and Holt were leaving a bar after being involved in a fight when they encountered Brown walking towards them on the sidewalk.

The complaint states that, as they passed each other, Brown was seen apparently trying to get something out of his pocket when Holt extended his arm, held a gun, and fired at Brown. Smith also allegedly fired at least seven times at Brown.

Holt was later indicted for Brown’s murder and recently found guilty in a federal racketeering case.