A Brooklyn Park man arrested as a juvenile last summer in the 2015 murder of a north Minneapolis activist and artist will stand trial as an adult.
Demetrius Wynne was 14 when he allegedly killed his neighbor, 68-year old Susan Spiller, in her home in July of that year. She was found beaten, strangled and stabbed five times. Wynne turns 19 on Thursday.
Hennepin County District Court Judge Tanya Bransford ruled in favor of adult certification Tuesday after closed juvenile court hearings, "noting that his age precluded him from being treated as a juvenile and even Extended Juvenile Jurisdiction would only keep him on probation for two years."
“We appreciate Judge Bransford’s decision and believe it is the correct one to protect public safety,” County Attorney Mike Freeman said in a statement. “This was a home burglary and brutal killing and by no stretch of the imagination would two years be sufficient for either punishment or rehabilitation. Now we will focus on proving Mr. Wynne guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”
According to the criminal complaint, Spiller had ongoing issues with neighbors in the home where Wynne lived.
He was found to be connected to the case earlier this summer after his fingerprint from another crime scene matched those found in Spiller's home. The County Attorney's Office says DNA from a fingernail clipping from Spiller's right hand was also connected to Wynne.
