Myon Burrell, man who was freed from life sentence, arrested for possession of gun

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Myon Burrell, the man who was sentenced to life behind bars for the 2002 murder of a preteen girl in Minneapolis but later freed by a pardons board, is facing new charges for possession of a loaded gun.

Burrell, 37, was arrested on Tuesday in Robbinsdale after being spotted driving erratically and speeding. When he was stopped, officers said "there was an indication of active drug use in the vehicle." In his vehicle, police say they found marijuana and a gun.

In a search warrant, officers said they saw smoke coming out of the window. The warrant also says Burrell attempted to walk away when they asked him to step out of the vehicle and fought with officers. Police say the handgun was found in the center console of the vehicle. The search warrant was filed to collect DNA to compare to the firearm.

Myon Burrell is released from prison in December 2020. (FOX 9)

Burrell was arrested on probable cause possession of a handgun as a prohibited person. While Burrell was freed on the murder conviction, his sentence was only commuted – he wasn't pardoned. As a result, Burrell is still not allowed to carry a weapon.

Before she was elected, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty helped fight for Burrell's release in the murder case, arguing he had been wrongly convicted. In a statement on Tuesday, her office said Moriarty has recused herself from issues involving Burrell and won't be involved in "any decision making around this incident."

Burrell was booked into Hennepin County Jail around 3:20 p.m. Tuesday.

Past conviction

Burrell was freed from prison in 2020 after serving 18 years for a killing he says he didn't commit. Burrell was convicted in the death of 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards. Edwards was hit by a stray bullet in her home while sitting at the dinner table doing homework.

However, amid a long push by activists, reviews of the case found failures in evidence collection, with investigators not tracking down surveillance video that could have exonerated Burrell. There was also never any hard evidence, like DNA or a gun, tying Burrell to the crime. Investigators relied on statements by a single eyewitness and jailhouse informants to build their case against Burrell. The case was prosecuted by Senator Amy Klobuchar when she served as county attorney. Klobuchar called for the case to be reviewed in 2020, as new questions arose about the investigation.

In court, Burrell was convicted twice, once by Klobuchar's office and a second time by county attorney Mike Freeman when the first conviction was thrown out by the state Supreme Court. In 2020, Burrell's sentence commutation was pushed for by Governor Tim Walz in 2020, who said he opposed a life sentence for a teen culprit, citing brain development at that stage.

"We can't shackle our children in 2020 and expect them to understand and live in a society with respect and decency," said Walz during the pardon hearing. "We need to grow as the science grows, we need to make compassionate redemption at the heart of our justice system."

Since being freed, Burrell has submitted his case to the state's Conviction Review Unit, in hopes of clearing his name in the case. In a statement on Tuesday, the Minnesota Attorney General's Office said the recent arrest won't have a bearing on the review process.