Man sentenced to 12½ years for murder of 15-year-old girl in Minneapolis

A man who pleaded guilty to the murder of a 15-year-old girl last summer in Minneapolis’ East Isles neighborhood will now spend time behind bars.

A judge on Friday sentenced 20-year-old Antonio Lamar Brooks Jr. to 12½ years (150 months) for the fatal shooting of Ka’Maih Johnson on Aug. 10, 2023. Brooks pleaded guilty to second-degree unintentional murder last month.

At least two-thirds of Brooks’ sentence will be spent in prison, with the remainder on supervised release. Hennepin County District Judge Amber Brennan gave him credit for 214 days served in jail.

A criminal complaint states a witness was driving with three other boys and had invited Brooks to meet up. Brooks arrived in an SUV, and after briefly laughing and joking with each other, he threatened to shoot everyone.

Brooks’ friends told him to “stop playing,” to which Brooks responded, “You think I’m playing? I’m gonna shoot this b—- up.” At that time, the witness and Johnson, who had gotten in Brooks’ car, got out and went back to the car they arrived in. Johnson was hanging out the window of the backseat when the witness heard the sound of gunfire.

Both vehicles sped off, with Johnson still leaning out the window. A second witness told investigators she fell out of the car and onto the ground. Police arriving at the scene around 1:30 a.m. found Johnson lying in the street with a gunshot wound to the chest. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

During Friday’s hearing, a state prosecutors told Brennan that Brooks had yet to demonstrate any remorse.

“He has shown a remarkable immaturity throughout this entire case,” a prosecutor said. “He still does not fully accept responsibility … and he kept saying he shot into the air. That’s impossible. He did not shoot in the air — he shot directly at the victim. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been hit in the chest with an upward trajectory.”

Brooks apologized to the victim’s family before hearing the judge’s sentence.

“I’m not that person anymore,” Brooks said to Brennan, asking for a “reasonable sentence” because he had no criminal history.