Court orders new trial for man convicted of killing Minneapolis North student Deshaun Hill

A man convicted of murder for the 2022 shooting that killed Minneapolis North High School student Deshaun Hill Jr. has won his appeal for a new trial.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals handed down its ruling Tuesday morning, saying 31-year-old Cody Logan Fohrenkam should get a new trial because some of his statements used in the trial were made during an unconstitutional detention.

Fohrenkam was found guilty of second-degree murder for the fatal shooting and sentenced last year to more than 38 years in prison.

Hill, 15, was a standout athlete for Minneapolis North High School’s football and basketball team. Authorities say he was walking home from school on Feb. 9, 2022, when he was shot near North Penn Avenue and Golden Valley Road. He was rushed to a hospital where he died the next day.

Prosecutors say Fohrenkam and Hill brushed shoulders while walking past each other but there was seemingly no other reason for the shooting.

In the days after the shooting, after receiving a tip about Fohrenkam, investigators learned that Carlton County law enforcement had arrested him for an unrelated matter and was releasing him. Court documents state that investigators went to Carlton County to question Fohrenkam and held him in an interview room while handcuffed for more than an hour. After that interview, he was arrested for Hill’s murder and was charged about two weeks later.

While the state argued that Fohrenkam’s detention and interview occurred while his release from Carlton County was being processed, the appellate judges wrote that the record didn’t have any evidence supporting that position. Therefore, they sided with Fohrenkam, finding that detention unlawful and, because the statements he made during that interview weren’t suppressed for his trial, remanded his case back to the district court for a new trial.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office issued the following statement on Tuesday following the announcement:

“The senseless act of gun violence that took the life of Deshaun hill devastated those who knew and loved him and everyone in the North High School community and beyond. We are deeply disappointed in this decision and are reviewing our options to ensure justice and accountability in this case.”

Prosecutors later added that they’ll appeal the decision to the Minnesota Supreme Court and retry the case if necessary.