Tyesha Edwards' killer gets new sentence

A gang member convicted a second time in the shooting death of an 11-year-old Minneapolis girl will get a new sentence. But that sentence change won't allow him to get out of prison any time soon.

Myon Burrell, 22, was sentenced in May 2008 for the 2002 slaying of Tyesha Edwards. Edwards was killed by a stray bullet as she was sitting at the kitchen table in her south Minneapolis home.

Burrell's first conviction was overturned on a procedural error. After his second conviction and sentencing, he appealed to the Minnesota Supreme Court because the judge in the case imposed a harsher sentence than after his first trial.

After his first conviction, the judge sentenced Burrell to life plus one year in prison for committing first-degree murder. After his second conviction, life plus five years.

The Supreme Court ruled today that as a matter of judicial policy in Minnesota, a court can't impose a sentence "more onerous than the one inititally received" on a defendant who has secured a new trial.

Burrell was also convicted of attempted first degree murder on another individual, and committing a crime for the benefit of a gang. With those convictions, Burrell will serve a total sentence of life plus 16 years.