A Minnesota man who had previously spent 18 years in prison after being sentenced to life as a teen in a high-profile murder case has been convicted on gun and drug charges. Myon Burrell was found guilty by Hennepin County Judge Mark Kappelhoff in a stipulated evidence trial for possession of a firearm by an ineligible person and fifth-degree drug possession. The trial was based on agreed-upon evidence, with the final outcome dependent on a ruling from the Minnesota Court of Appeals regarding the validity of a stop and search by police in Robbinsdale in August 2023, where a handgun and drugs were found in Burrell’s vehicle. If the appeals court deems the stop unconstitutional, the charges will be dropped. A sentencing date is pending.
Burrell had been convicted in the 2002 death of 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards but was later released after new evidence and flaws in the investigation were uncovered in 2020. Despite his sentence being commuted, his request for a pardon was denied, keeping his first-degree murder conviction on his record, which made it illegal for him to possess a gun. During his recent arrest, an officer reported that Burrell was driving erratically, emitting smoke from his vehicle with a strong odor of burnt marijuana. Burrell failed field sobriety tests and a subsequent search revealed a handgun and pills, some testing positive for methamphetamine and ecstasy.
A different judge had previously ruled that the stop and search were lawful, despite Burrell’s defense arguing that the officer lacked justification for the stop and that the smell of marijuana alone was not enough for a search, citing a previous ruling by the Minnesota Supreme Court. Another drug charge from a separate incident is still pending, with a hearing scheduled for September 23rd.
