A Minneapolis teenager was given a sentence of more than 30 years on Thursday for a deadly shooting that caused the Mall of America to close during the busy holiday shopping season in 2022.
Nineteen-year-old Taeshawn Adams-Wright admitted guilt in March to second-degree murder for the killing of Johntae Hudson, also 19, from Minneapolis. He is the first of four defendants to be sentenced in the case.
Another alleged shooter, 19-year-old Lavon Longstreet, is scheduled to stand trial next week. Two juveniles are facing lesser charges related to the incident.
The shooting occurred on the evening of December 23, 2022, following a confrontation between two groups of teenagers inside the Bloomington mall, known as the largest shopping center in the country. According to prosecutors, Adams-Wright and others pursued Hudson through the Nordstrom store, and security footage captured the chaotic scene.
Hudson was shot multiple times and died at the scene.
The parking lot of a shopping plaza (Via Marshal Plaza/Shutterstock)
Police reported that Hudson had also fired during the altercation, and a firearm was found near his body. A shopper was grazed by a bullet, prompting the mall to go into lockdown.
During his sentencing hearing, Adams-Wright briefly spoke, expressing remorse to the victim’s family. “I want to apologize for causing pain and suffering,” he said. “I deeply regret my actions.”
However, Judge Paul Scoggin dismissed Adams-Wright’s plea for a lighter sentence and criticized his earlier claims of acting in self-defense.
“You and others made a decision to pursue and kill someone,” Scoggin stated. “We’ve all seen the video, and there’s no other way to interpret what happened that day. Your assertion of self-defense? It doesn’t hold. You participated in a group effort to take someone’s life, and it’s that simple.”
The judge imposed a sentence of 30 years and seven months. In Minnesota, defendants typically serve two-thirds of their prison terms before being eligible for supervised release.
