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Mekhi Speed sentenced to 16 years in prison for murder of Otis Elder
Mekhi Speed, who plead guilty to the killing of Otis Elder in May was sentenced to 16 years and three months today in Ramsey County courthouse. In January, Minneapolis Police were serving a search warrant for Speed when they entered his apartment and shot and killed his cousin Amir Locke.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Mekhi Speed, who plead guilty to the killing of Otis Elder in May was sentenced to 16 years and three months today in Ramsey County courthouse.
In January, Minneapolis Police were serving a search warrant for Speed when they entered his apartment and shot and killed his cousin Amir Locke.
Speed, who was 17 at the time of Otis Elder’s January killing, is charged as a juvenile with two counts of second-degree murder. The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office was attempting to have him certified as an adult, which is why the sentencing and hearing was pushed back to this summer. Because of trying to charge him as an adult, the state dropped the top count of second-degree intentional murder, and Speed entered a guilty plea on a single count of felony second-degree murder.
As part of his plea deal in May, the state dropped the top count of second-degree intentional murder, and Speed entered a guilty plea on a single count of felony second-degree murder.
Elder’s family was upset about that plea deal back in February because they believed Speed should have been charged for all the crimes including the death of Locke.
Elder’s mother, Shandra Mckinley Lewis, spoke to Fox 9 after the sentencing to express her frustration. "Yeah, I'm hurt because I feel that my son did not get the justice that he was supposed to."
She said she realizes she has to move on, but that doesn’t make it any easier.
"But I guess we just pray up and try to get our lives back together. But it's hard. I've never felt this way in my life. Never."
She added, "You know, they [Mekhi’s family] came and apologized. So I just wanted to be able to forgive that you know, and I just don't know," she said.