Man Given Life Sentence as Teenager is Now Eligible For Parole
A Hennepin County judge re-sentenced Brian Flowers, 32, on Friday for the role he played in the gruesome stabbing deaths of Katricia Daniels and her 10-year-old son Robert Shepard in June 2008.
Both Flowers and his accomplice, Stafon Edward Thompson, were convicted in 2009 of two counts of 1st-degree murder and sentenced to two life sentences without parole. Flowers, who was 16-years-old at the time of the murder, can now be granted parole as part of the re-sentencing.
In the original criminal complaint, Flowers admitted to investigators that Thompson allegedly planned to rob Daniels at her home before Thompson stabbed her over 100 times, causing her death. Flowers then told investigators that Thompson said Shepard had to be killed so their would be no witnesses to the murder. Flowers stated that Thompson assaulted Shepard, including smashing a television set on the child’s head before they both ran from the home.
Between 2012 and 2016, federal and Minnesota state case law changed regarding juveniles serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. Flowers was re-sentenced in 2017 after those changes and would have been eligible for parole after serving 30 years.
In 2023, state law changed once again, allowing juveniles serving consecutive life sentences to be eligible for parole after 20 years. Both law changes were applied retroactively, allowing Flowers to become eligible for parole immediately upon resentencing.
“After a lot of work and thorough consideration of all the legal and factual issues involved in this case, we concluded that Mr. Flowers should receive a concurrent sentence for his role in the murders of Katricia Daniels and Robert Shepard. Because we were not involved with the protracted and contentious litigation that this case generated for over eleven years, we could independently evaluate Mr. Flowers’ culpability and, in hindsight, take into consideration past judicial rulings and the significant changes to Federal and State laws that occurred during this lengthy litigation,” said Ramsey County Attorney John Choi.
“The law is an expression of our community’s values and when the law changes to it is important guidance on how prosecutors should exercise our decision making. From our perspective, it is significant that, on appeal, the Minnesota Supreme Court determined in 2010 that Mr. Flowers’ role in this case was far less than his co-defendant. We came to the same conclusion after reviewing this case for the past ten months and therefore resolved this case in a manner that reflected his lesser culpability, achieved an end to the litigation, and recognized the reality that the distinction between consecutive and concurrent sentences for Mr. Flowers was small due to retroactive changes in the law made by the Minnesota Legislature in 2023.”
As part of the stipulation, Flowers agreed to dismiss his motion for a new trial and to cease his post-conviction litigation and in exchange was re-sentenced to two concurrent life sentences with the possibility of parole.
Due to a conflict of interest within the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office completed the prosecution.
The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office says they intend to oppose concurrent sentences for Thompson when he is re-sentenced which would result in a longer prison sentence before Thompson can be eligble for parole.
In a press release, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office stated they intend to oppose parole for Flowers until at least 2028.
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