The grieving mother of St. Paul speaks out against the plea deal for the son’s murder

SF. PAUL, Minnesota (FOX 9) – The mother of Alex Becker, the man killed in St. Paul, a few steps from his home, spoke against a plea deal for a man who pleaded guilty to killing Becker.

Becker was killed two days after Christmas 2022 during a robbery in St. Paul, in a dark alley off Lawson Avenue West — just steps from his mother’s house. Becker was on his way home from work when police said he was apparently jumped by three men: Detwan Allen, Shaun Travis and Arteze Kinerd.

Travis was the first to stand trial and was eventually acquitted by a judge. Allen was the second to stand trial and was convicted of second-degree murder for Becker’s death and sentenced to just over 30 years for the murder.

Kinerd took a plea deal in February following Allen’s guilty verdict in December 2023. In court Monday, Judge Nicole Starr continued the plea deal, handing down the sentence of just over 30 years behind bars . Of that, he will serve two-thirds of his sentence in prison — about 20 years — followed by 10 years of supervised release. Kinerd was convicted Monday in a kidnapping case, which will run concurrently with his murder sentence.

In court, before the formal sentencing, Becker’s mother asked the judge to reject the deal.

“It is obscene to have to argue the validity of Alex’s life while begging his killer not to be free to harm more people,” Tara Becker said in court. “When I wake up tomorrow, Alex will be dead. He’ll still be dead in 30 years. In 30 years, Kinerd will be able to do more harm to another person, another family.”

“He has a long history of hurting people and the only person he’s ever cared about is himself,” added Tara Becker.

“These cases are always difficult because the reality is that I simply cannot punish Mr. Kinerd enough to ever bring Alex back,” Judge Starr said. “There was nothing I could do that would make his whole family; to make his friends or the whole community. And when I was thinking about this case — and I’ve been thinking about sentencing for a while — I thought a lot about this idea of ​​kindness and so, I can’t give this family any comfort, I just can’t, I can’t – – I am bound by this agreement and intend to follow it.

Judge Starr later read a poem and urged Kinerd to reflect on the harm he caused over the next two decades.

Kinerd is scheduled for release in March 2043.