Leslie Shawn Sanders was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Thursday afternoon in a Rice County courtroom, for the murder of Larry Myers during a road rage attack last summer.
The incident occurred on June 27th of last year, on Cannon City Boulevard near 154th Street E, about 3 miles southeast of Dundas. Eyewitnesses said Myers, 79, was on his way to a dialysis appointment when Sanders cut him off, and his pickup hit Myers’ vehicle. The two continued to the intersection of Hester Street and Schilling Drive in Dundas, where Sanders got out of his truck, approached Myers’ SUV and started punching Myers in the face. According to authorities, Sanders initially attempted to make the assault look as if Myers had attacked him. The results of Myers’ injuries included an inability for him to breathe on his own. Myers was removed from life support and passed away just over a week later.
Early last month, Sanders, who has remained in the Rice County Jail since his July 2022 arrest, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. As part of a negotiated plea agreement with the Rice County Attorney’s Office, prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of 140 months in prison and dismiss two felony counts of assault.
During the sentencing hearing, Myers’ family was allowed to address the court, and tell District Court Judge Troy Timmerman about Myers and what the family lost in a moment that could have been avoided.
A statement issued by Rice County said Myers’ family spoke of his caring nature, his love for his family and how proud he was to have served his country as a member of the Air Force despite the lingering effects of having been exposed to Agent Orange which led to kidney disease and required dialysis.
Judge Timmerman abided by the agreement and handed down a sentence requiring Sanders to serve at least two thirds of his sentence in prison. The remainder would be served on supervised release.
When asked by the judge if he had anything to say to the court, Sanders declined. His attorney, Ryan Garry, however, apologized to Myers’ family on his client’s behalf.
Underdahl sees a need to “push back” on vaccination myths
It is mid-October. Temperatures are falling. The weather forecast is calling for rain well into the weekend. The weather has abandoned any semblance of summer, and with the change comes the cold and flu season, and quite possibly what could become known as Covid season as well.
Northfield Hospital + Clinics President and CEO Steve Underdahl said Northfield Hospital went a few months without seeing a Covid patient during the spring and summer, but lately they have seen anywhere between 1-3 a week. Additionally, he said, the hospital patients with Covid had overwhelmingly been in the hospital for a different reason. However, many older people have been in the hospital recently specifically because they have been diagnosed with Covid-19.
Underdahl said the situation can produce some anxiety with NH+C staff, largely due to conditions with health care systems a year ago, and the fear that things have not improved. Underdahl said they had many cases last year and in early 2023 where patients were so sick the hospital could not properly care for them, but there were no beds available in larger, better equipped facilities in the Twin Cities and elsewhere, so those patients could not be transferred.
Now is the time, of course, for people to get vaccinated against the flu, and the Centers for Disease Control has recently authorized another round of Covid-19 booster shots. The problem, Underdahl said, is the false narrative still being perpetuated that somehow the vaccines are unsafe and dangerous. While the idea is patently untrue, Underdahl expressed some frustration with his own industry and the reluctance to meet conspiracy theories and false narratives head on. He said it is time to start calling the situation out for what it is.
“Some things about which you’re perfectly able to have as an opinion, because this is America, and you get to believe whatever you want, still might not be right. And I think we’ve been very resistant to even label nonsense as nonsense. As an industry anchored in science. I think we have to be a little more full-throated in our pushback about some of those things.”
Underdahl said the updated Covid-19 vaccine has arrived at Northfield Hospital + Clinics and is available, as is the flu vaccine. He advised people to call the Northfield Clinic and make an appointment for the vaccinations as the Covid vaccine must be thawed out, adding there is no danger to receiving a flu shot and a Covid-19 vaccine at the same time.
For more information, or to schedule a vaccination, visit northfieldhospital.org
Rainy performance will be free in Northfield’s premier venue
Red Lake Ojibwe Pow Wow singer Joe Rainey will perform a free concert next Friday in the Kracum Performance Hall at the Weitz Center for Creativity at Carleton College.
The performance is brought about through a collaboration between the Northfield Public Library, Arts@Carleton, and the Carleton College Center for Community and Civic Engagement.
Rainey, whose work has been praised in numerous publications including Pitchfork, The New York Times, and The Guardian, will showcase his skills as a powwow singer, adding his own flair while remaining faithful to tradition. He will be accompanied by cinematic, bass-heavy production.
Northfield Director of Library Services Natalie Draper said the performance will be an excellent match of performer and venue.
“Joe Rainey is a powwow singer, sort of avant-garde. It’s just big music that sort of surrounds you and gets into you. It’s big. It’s worth going. And the Weitz Center and the Krakum Performance Hall is just such a beautiful space.”
This event is set for next Friday, October 20, at 7pm. It is free and open to the public. No ticket or reservation is needed.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
