by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
A man convicted of killing another man in Sartell last spring has been sentenced to nearly 18 years in prison.
Demetreus McGinnis, 24, was convicted by a jury earlier this year of second- and third-degree murder for the death of Maurice Galvin, 20. The crime occurred just before noon on March 13, 2014 behind the Sprint store in the PineCone Marketplace mall in south Sartell.
During a scuffle, McGinnis shot Galvin in the chest with a handgun. The wounded man was driven to the CentraCare Health Plaza by another man and died at 7:30 p.m. that night in the St. Cloud Hospital. McGinnis was an employee of the Sprint store. He was arrested later that afternoon when he returned to the scene of the crime.
Just before the crime, McGinnis left the Sprint store by its back door to talk to two men in a van, one of which was Galvin. According to court testimony, the scuffle and shooting was the result of a drug deal and counterfeit money given by Galvin to McGinnis. McGinnis had a previous conviction for aggravated assault and a drug charge pending in Isanti County at the time of the shooting in Sartell.
McGinnis will have to serve at least 10 years of his sentence before being considered for parole. He has been in jail since the crime occurred.
