Deshaun Hill case: Fohrenkam retrial set to start Monday after appeal fight over interrogation video
Cody Fohrenkam’s retrial for the 2021 murder of 15‑year‑old Deshaun Hill Jr. is set to begin Monday with jury selection in Hennepin County, after the Minnesota Court of Appeals overturned his 2023 conviction and 38.5‑year sentence. The court found he was illegally detained in Carlton County so Minneapolis investigators could interrogate him, said prosecutors committed prejudicial misconduct, and ruled his interrogation statements — shown in a 19‑minute video before a jury that convicted him in under an hour — were not lawfully obtained; at his first new court appearance Hill’s family erupted and were cleared from the courtroom, prompting tightened security.
📌 Key Facts
- Jury selection in Cody Fohrenkam’s retrial in the killing of 15-year-old Deshaun Hill Jr. is scheduled to begin Monday in Hennepin County District Court.
- The Minnesota Court of Appeals vacated Fohrenkam’s 2023 second-degree murder conviction and 38.5-year sentence, finding he was illegally detained in Carlton County so Minneapolis investigators could interrogate him.
- The appeals court also found prosecutors committed prejudicial misconduct during the original trial.
- The court ruled Fohrenkam’s interrogation statements were not lawfully obtained, yet a 19-minute interrogation video was shown to the jury at the prior trial, which returned a conviction in under an hour.
- At Fohrenkam’s first new court appearance, Deshaun Hill’s family erupted in court, berating and threatening him; deputies cleared them from the courtroom and tightened security.
📊 Relevant Data
Following the police killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, homicides in Minneapolis increased by 168%, from an average weekly rate of 0.0021 to 0.0055 per 1,000 residents aged 18+.
Disadvantaged neighborhoods in Minneapolis, with 39% non-Hispanic Black residents compared to 4.8% in advantaged neighborhoods, experienced over twice the carjacking incidence rate pre-2020 and nearly threefold increase post-2020.
The percent Black in a census tract is positively associated with homicide rates in Minneapolis (incidence rate ratio: 1.02).
Chronic absenteeism affects more than half of Minneapolis public school students, with higher rates among Black students, contributing to youth violence.
Minneapolis Faces Rising Homicide Rates Amid National Decline — Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
📰 Source Timeline (3)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- Jury selection in Cody Fohrenkam’s retrial for the murder of 15-year-old Deshaun Hill Jr. is scheduled to begin Monday in Hennepin County District Court.
- The Minnesota Court of Appeals threw out Fohrenkam’s 2023 second-degree murder conviction and 38.5-year sentence, finding he was illegally detained in Carlton County so Minneapolis investigators could interrogate him.
- The appellate ruling also held that prosecutors committed prejudicial misconduct in their arguments, and that Fohrenkam’s interrogation statements were not lawfully obtained but were still shown to the jury in a 19‑minute video before a conviction that took less than an hour.
- At Fohrenkam’s first new court appearance, Hill’s family erupted in court, berating and threatening him and prompting deputies to clear them from the courtroom and tighten security.