Father accused of encouraging son to shoot 12-year-old boy sentenced

Father apologizes for role in deadly shooting

Letterance Grady, the father who pleaded guilty to helping his son before and after the deadly shooting of London Bean in 2021, apologized for his actions in court on Monday.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The father of the teen gunman, who shot and killed 12-year-old London Bean in Minneapolis more than two years ago, apologized in court Monday as he was sentenced for his role in the case.

Letterance Grady was accused of encouraging his son Jeremiah to retaliate after an alleged fight between his younger brother and London Bean in September 2021.

Police said Letterance drove Jeremiah to the shooting scene in the Sumner-Glenwood neighborhood, where Jeremiah shot Bean. Bean was found mortally wounded by police and rushed to the hospital where he died shortly after the shooting.

At first, Letterance denied being involved in the shooting but was captured on security video driving to the scene. Jeremiah also admitted that his father encouraged him to respond and told him to fire shots from the car.

Letterance pled guilty in the case and was sentenced on Monday. After accounting for time served, Grady was sentenced to more than four years behind bars plus time served. He will also serve time on supervised release after getting out of prison.

In court, Letterance said he was sorry for doing what he did.

"There will forever be a dark cloud over me for my actions after the fact," Letterance told the court. "To the family of London Bean, from the bottom of my heart, I'm sorry. I'm sorry you'll never be able to hug and hold that baby. I'm sorry because he had so much to offer the world and won't get the chance to get the blessing God intended him to be."

Speaking with FOX 9 in late December, London Bean's family expressed dismay with the plea deal for Letterance, saying they felt blindsided by the deal.

"I was crying to them and I told them [Hennepin County Attorney’s Office] that it was not fair," said Crystal Hill, London’s mother. "Everything that they told me that they were fighting for, it ended up being a lie because they did not fight for my son as I expected them to."

The family wanted the case to go to trial.

In response, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said, that as the facts of the case developed, she determined Jeremiah Grady had acted of his own accord in the shooting. Jeremiah Grady was sentenced to 30 years for the deadly shooting.

In court, Letterance also denied that he had encouraged his son to shoot the boy. "What happened to that young man was an unjustified and cowardly act," Letterance said. "And I have never promoted or encouraged anyone to act so violently towards a child. London didn't deserve what happened to him."