The 28-year-old St. Paul resident charged with murdering University football player Brandon Hall appeared in court for his arraignment Friday.
Jermaine Stansberry was arrested Sept. 1, approximately 90 seconds after he allegedly shot Hall in the warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis. Stansberry told the judge he understood the charges filed against him.
Hennepin County attorneys charged him Thursday with intentional second-degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm. He was also charged with aggravated robbery for allegedly assaulting University football player Damian Haye earlier that night.
Stansberry’s bail was initially set at $1 million, but Judge Pamela Alexander lowered it to $750,000 Friday.
Bail is typically set to assure a defendant’s appearance in court.
The defendant must post 10 percent of the set bail to be free during the trial.
Public defender Mark Bearss argued Stansberry was not a flight risk and that a $1 million bail is beyond Stansberry’s means.
Stansberry is unemployed, and Bearss said he takes care of his fiancee and children.
Bearss said he did not know Friday whether Stansberry or Hardimon would plead guilty, having only had a few minutes with his clients before their arraignments.
Stansberry and Hardimon are expected to appear again in court Oct. 2.
Bearss said Stansberry has lived at his West St. Paul address in the 7700 block of Oakdale Drive all his life, but Stansberry told the judge Friday he did not know his ZIP code.
Raymond Hardimon, the 24-year-old charged with aggravated robbery for allegedly assaulting Haye the morning of Hall’s death, told the judge he understood the charges against him.
Alexander lowered his bail from $500,000 to $300,000.
Hardimon, a Minneapolis resident, has lived with his grandmother on the 4000 block of Portland Avenue for 10 years.
It was unclear Friday whether Hardimon or Stansberry would be able to post bail.
Hardimon was charged with assaulting Haye and participating in the theft of the player’s gold necklace.
Minneapolis police found a gold necklace in Stansberry’s pocket Sunday that matched the description of Haye’s jewelry.
According to the criminal complaint:
Hardimon and Stansberry kicked, punched and robbed Haye, 19, Sunday at 1:30 a.m. in the area of Fourth Street and First Avenue.
Haye refused medical attention and did not file a complaint against his assailants. The football player then called several teammates to come pick him up.
Approximately 20 minutes after the initial attack, police reported they broke up an argument between the players and several individuals, two of them matching Stansberry’s and Hardimon’s descriptions.
At 2:20 a.m., the group of seven University football players, including Hall, approached their vehicles and spotted Stansberry and Hardimon.
Police said the defendants ran toward the players, who fled, fearing they were armed.
But police said Hall stopped running, turned around and told Stansberry he wasn’t with the football team.
Stansberry then shot Hall from approximately 10 feet away with a black 9 mm handgun.
Hall collapsed and died minutes later.
