A Minnesota man was sentenced to 80 years in prison Tuesday for the 2021 murder of Natwan Nash.
Kentrell Brown, 21, was convicted in January of shooting the victim multiple times. Nash was found unresponsive in his apartment in the 2400 block of Clearwater Avenue.
Brown was sentenced to 55 years for murder and 25 years for discharge of a firearm.
Prosecutor Mary Lawson argued that Brown lacks rehabilitation potential based on his past record of violent criminal activity, saying he "is and has been a danger to the communities he’s been in for quite some time.”
Bloomington police Sgt. Jeff Engle testified about multiple incidents dating back to 2018 in Minnesota in which Brown used a BB gun to threaten and harm people.
In the case of Nash, Brown fired his gun 11 times, hitting the victim 10 times, said Lawson, adding one of the shots was fired at close range.
Lawson asked for 60 years for murder and an additional 25 for discharge of a firearm.
In a victim impact statement from Venita Boyd, the mother of Nash’s son, Judge Jason Chambers heard how the murder has affected her family.
“You took my child’s father from him for the rest of his life. You destroyed our family emotionally,” Boyd told the defendant.
Defense lawyer Mackenzie Frizzell asked for a minimum sentence of 20 years for murder and 25 years on the gun charge.
Brown’s rough upbringing and loss of family members at a young age should be considered, she said.
In his comments ahead of issuing the sentence, Chambers noted that he was considering Brown’s childhood experiences as disclosed in a pre-sentence report.
When Brown “was 11 years old he was first introduced to guns when his brother gave him one to carry,” said the judge. Turning away from such an early exposure to guns and crime is difficult, the judge observed.
But Brown's frequent criminal activity through adulthood makes him a threat to society, added Chambers.
Brown’s record shows “a very low chance of significant rehabilitation,” he said.
