A Maple Grove man has pleaded guilty in Hennepin County District Court to fatally stabbing another man while they argued in a car in Minneapolis’ Dinkytown neighborhood in August.
Brandon Kenneth Bockoven, 24, pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree unintentional murder in the death of 21-year-old Sean Mwangi Maina, also of Maple Grove.
Bockoven will be sentenced April 18 and as part of a negotiated guilty plea is expected to receive 15 years in prison, the Hennepin County attorney’s office said Friday.
On Aug. 25, Bockoven and Maina were sitting in the front seats of a car parked near University Avenue Southeast and 13th Avenue Southeast, just off the University of Minnesota campus. Two women sitting in the back seats told officers the two men were arguing over money that Bockoven said Maina owed him for auto parts, according to a criminal complaint.
Bockoven stabbed Maina twice in the torso, according to the complaint. He died a short time later at a hospital.
During questioning by Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Dan Allard, Bockoven admitted that when he pulled out the knife, he intended to either scare Maina or stab him.