Final defendant sentenced in Zaria McKeever murder case

The last of five adults charged in connection with the November 2022 murder of Zaria McKeever was sentenced to one year in prison with a stayed 50-month prison sentence after admitting she lied to law enforcement and helped her son following the killing. The sentencing, handed down by the Minnesota Attorney General's Office, completes the final prosecution tied to McKeever's death. McKeever, 23, was shot and killed in a Brooklyn Park home on Nov. 8, 2022. Erick Haynes, her former partner and the father of her then-1-and-a-half-year-old daughter, sent two juveniles — including Foday Kamara — into an apartment with guns to kill McKeever's new boyfriend. The juveniles shot McKeever five times, including at point-blank range to her head. Haynes drove the getaway vehicle. Valesha Parker pleaded guilty on March 25 , to one count of aiding an offender after the fact. She had originally been charged in 2024 with four felony counts of aiding an offender. According to charges, Parker was living at an Extended Stay Hotel in Brooklyn Center, where police later found the murder weapon. Kamara told investigators that Parker was present when two other adults let him into the hotel room. Kamara said he told Parker he had shot McKeever and that Parker overheard a conversation with Haynes about hiding the murder weapon. The 50-month prison sentence will remain stayed for five years, provided Parker meets the terms of her plea agreement. …