Walz takes case from Hennepin County, gives it to Ellison

@ap.news FILE – Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges the crowd after speaking about reproductive rights Oct. 22, 2022, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr, File)

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz has taken the rare step of taking a murder case away from Hennepin County prosecutors and handing it to Attorney General Keith Ellison.

Two brothers, ages 15 and 17, are accused of killing of 23-year-old Zaria McKeever in her Brooklyn Park apartment last November at the direction of her ex-boyfriend.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty had offered them juvenile plea deals to spare them lengthy adult sentences in exchange for their testimony against the ex-boyfriend. But McKeever’s family objected. Ellison had criticized the plea deal, and Walz used his authority Thursday to give the case to him.