Murder accomplice, who defaced victim's memorial, sentenced
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - He was an accomplice to a Minneapolis murder last January and then defaced the victim’s memorial in the days that followed. And now, a Hennepin County District Court Judge has sentenced Shawn Goodloe to 12.5 years in prison.
"He was a great kid, a great person. He had so much potential," Brett Dzubay-Percy said about his son, Dwayne.
The family of Dwayne Dzubay-Percy is still reeling one year later. They said the 15-year-old had such promise before he was killed. Dzubay-Percy’s father and loved ones showed up at court with a binder full of memories and academic achievements including Dwayne’s honor roll certificates.
"Just to be killed over something so stupid, so senseless, it is just heartbreaking," Brett Dzubay-Percy told FOX 9’s Paul Blume.
"Dweezy," as he was known to all who loved him, was at the wheel of a stolen Kia with several others inside on Jan. 13, 2023, when he was shot and killed by a gunman in a pursuing vehicle. The suspected gunman, Fabian Scott, is currently sitting in a Fargo-area jail on a separate homicide charge, awaiting a potential trial for the murder of Dzubay-Percy.
Dwayne Dzubay-Percy
Monday’s sentencing, meanwhile, was for Goodloe, the admitted driver in the scary, rolling shooting over several blocks of DuPont Avenue North. Goodloe previously pleaded guilty to aiding an offender and accomplice after the fact. Prosecutors wanted him to do 12.5 years for his role, chasing the Kia and allowing the gunman to hang out the window, firing up to 14 rounds.
Ultimately, Judge Jay Quam agreed to the sentence in part because of what Goodloe and some pals did after the shooting. They defaced Dzubay-Percy’s sidewalk memorial in the days that followed the slaying, stealing the balloons, yelling obscenities about the victim, and then posting their actions on social media.
"It hurt. That just showed right there, they did not care. They killed my son at night and the next day, they were taking the balloons from his memorial and posting the pictures on Instagram," explained Brett Dzubay-Percy.
Goodloe’s defense attorney, Bryan Leary, had argued for a prison sentence closer to 10 years, based on the parameters of the plea agreement with the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, telling Judge Quam that prosecutors were trying to paint Goodloe as having a bigger role in the deadly pursuit.
"[They are] trying to paint Mr. Goodloe as something more than what he was, which was a useful idiot in this case, he was the driver," Leary said. "A better Shawn Goodloe, I believe, would have stopped the car after the first shot. Uh, I don't know anybody who has that strength of character. And it may be, it was too much to expect of Mr. Goodloe on that occasion."
With credit for time served, Goodloe is expected to spend his next seven years behind bars, the rest of his sentence on some form of supervised release. Prosecutors said, as part of his plea agreement, Goodloe will be expected to testify at Scott’s trial at some point in the future.