Sentencing postponed for woman charged in 2016 Herron murder

Prior Lake American

Two years after the 2016 murder of Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community tribal member James Herron, sentencing will begin for two of the four suspects in the case.

Brandy Lee Jaques pleaded guilty to second-degree intentional murder in November 2017 and was due to be sentenced on Tuesday, but the sentencing was moved to 9 a.m. Nov. 21.

Another suspect, Jonte Robinson, was also due to be sentenced earlier this year and had the sentencing moved to November. A Minneapolis man, Tyrel Patterson, was sentenced in January to life in prison with eligibility for parole.

The last suspect, Derrick Smith, went through a bench trial in April. The state had to submit closing arguments by May 18 and then the defense has until June 8 to respond. Any rebuttal from the state is due June 22.

Jaques testified in Smith’s trial as part of a plea deal. She said that her and Smith were friends since 2012 and that he would frequently come over to her house.

“I’m scared to be here,” Jaques said during the trial. “I don’t want to be here. I’m afraid of Derrick. I know who Derrick is.”

She testified that she did not hear about the robbery plan until the day of, on Nov. 22, 2016 and that when she told Smith she didn’t want to go, he punched her. Jaques was the one who drove the suspects to Herron’s home.

Three of the suspects fled the scene of the robbery and murder and were involved in a high-speed police chase, including Jaques, who was driving the car. After police stopped the car, Jaques was apprehended by a K9 officer and the handler and taken into custody.

Jaques testified that she had gotten third-party messages from Smith up until the trial — from the mother of Smith’s child, from Smith’s not-quite girlfriend and then from a woman in Scott County Jail who rode with Smith down to Scott County for the start of his trial.

Jaques pleaded guilty to aiding an offender and accomplice after the fact to her involvement in the shooting murder of 31-year-old Richard Ambers. Smith was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the crime.