MINNEAPOLIS — A new sentencing order signed Friday by Judge William Koch in Hennepin County makes 32-year-old Brian Flowers immediately eligible for parole, a dramatic development after he was originally sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole as a juvenile in 2009.
Ramsey County prosecutors and Flowers’ defense team now agree that Flowers’ two life sentences for the murder of Katricia Daniels and her 10-year-old son Robert should be served concurrently (at the same time) instead of consecutively (one after the other).
Judge Koch formed his order based on the agreement between the two sides, which makes Flowers immediately eligible for parole because of a law changed in the legislature last year that makes people sentenced as juveniles eligible for supervised release after 15 years. Flowers has already been incarcerated for 15 years and 7 months since being convicted in the murders.
The crime
In June 2008, Katricia Daniels' fiancé found the 36-year-old woman stabbed 193 times in her home in South Minneapolis. Her son Robert was dead from 30 stab wounds and a heavy, tube-style television had been dropped on his head. Daniels' 16-month-old daughter was left alone in the house with blood on her onesie.
"These are among the worst, if not the worst I've probably ever seen," Hennepin County Medical Examiner Andrew Baker testified at the time, addressing the sheer number of injuries sustained by Katricia and Robert.
"Of all the homicides committed by juveniles in Hennepin County, this is by far the most heinous," wrote Hennepin County prosecutors Brittany Lawonn and Nicholas Linstroth.
In 2009, Brian Flowers and Stafon Thompson were convicted in separate first-degree premeditated murder trials. Thompson was 17 at the time of the crime, and Flowers was one month away from turning 17. They knew the victims, and Katricia had opened her home to the teens to spend the night. Flowers claimed that he was there but did not participate in the murders.
Following their trials and guilty verdicts, Flowers and Thompson were each sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
Law changes
The United States Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that juvenile offenders must have a chance at one day being released. As a result, both defendants were ordered to be re-sentenced.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, under the direction of former County Attorney Mike Freeman, fought to have Flowers re-sentenced to consecutive sentences for the two victims instead of having them served concurrently. Freeman wanted to maximize Flowers’ time behind bars before he would become eligible for release.
Then in 2023, the Minnesota Legislature passed a bill to shorten the time juveniles must wait before applying for early release. Instead of waiting 30 years on a life sentence (or 60 years for two consecutive terms) they now must wait just 15, and the law can be applied retroactively to inmates in prison.
Conflict of interest
After Mary Moriarty took office as Hennepin County Attorney in 2023, prosecutors Lawonn and Linstroth, in an internal memo obtained by KARE 11 News, asked Moriarty to recuse herself from the case.
Moriarty did so in 2023, and the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office took over prosecution duties. But in a stipulation filed Friday, Ramsey County prosecutors indicated they would not continue the fight for Flowers to receive consecutive sentences.
“Well-established case law in Minnesota establishes a court may impose consecutive sentences only when such sentences are commensurate with the defendant’s culpability and not an exaggeration of his criminality,” read the stipulation signed by prosecutor Michelle Monteiro and defense attorney Perry Moriearty.
During one of Flowers' appeals, the Minnesota Supreme Court wrote that Flowers was less culpable than Thompson.
“There is much less evidence that Flowers participated in the overt acts of murdering Daniels and Shepard. This fact situation makes this one of the more difficult sufficiency of the evidence cases we have faced,” the Court wrote.
Reaction
Robert Shephard Sr. says he descended deep into depression and drug addiction when his 10-year-old son Robert was murdered. His son's death still haunts him today.
"I’m trying to hold back the tears right now," Shephard said in a phone interview. "Knowing that my son would be 26 years old March 7th. I didn’t even get to see him grow up."
Shephard, along with the rest of the victims' family members, opposed the agreement Ramsey County prosecutors signed.
"It’s just astonishing that they would even consider him for parole. The way that he murdered – they murdered – Katricia and my son," Shephard said. "I don’t think the justice system understands or recognizes the pain that we have to go through. I don’t think they understand that – that we have to live with this for the rest of our lives."
In the stipulation, prosecutors addressed the victim family members' opposition.
“The State has been in contact with several surviving family members of the victims. The State has informed them of the recent amendments to state law and how the new law applies to Mr. Flowers. The State has also informed them of, and sought their input on, the agreement for concurrent sentences. They do not support concurrent sentences. They do not wish to give further input or attend a resentencing hearing. They are aware the matter will be handled by stipulation and do not object to proceeding without a hearing.”
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi issued a statement that reads in part, “Because we were not involved with the protracted and contentious litigation that this case generated for over eleven years, we could independently evaluate Mr. Flowers’ culpability and, in hindsight, take into consideration past judicial rulings and the significant changes to Federal and State laws that occurred during this lengthy litigation.”
Flowers’ attorney Perry Moriearty, who helped write the new law reducing the parole eligibility wait time, issued a joint statement along with Mitchell-Hamline Law Professor Brad Colbert:
"It is impossible to overstate the gravity of the trauma, grief, and loss caused by the murders of Katricia Daniels and Robert Shephard. Brian takes full responsibility for and deeply regrets his role in the events of that night. Brian was 16 years old at the time of the murders. He is grateful that both the state and the court have recognized his youth and -- as did the Minnesota Supreme Court -- his lesser culpability in these events. Brian has now been incarcerated for almost 16 years, and he is not the same person he was in 2008. He knows that there is nothing he can so or do to change what happened, but Brian will spend the rest of his life trying to make amends. He is so deeply sorry."
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