MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The home invasion murder of Shea Stremcha has ended with a guilty plea by the third man involved in the break-in and shooting in the summer of 2011.
Xavier Demia Walker, 25, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Monday as his trial was about to begin.
He agreed to a sentence of the statutory maximum of 40 years in prison. His sentenced is set for 2 p.m. on March 26. Co-defendant Robert Shelby, 29, is expected to receive 35 1/2 years in prison, and co-defendant Semaj Williams, 23, is expected to receive more than 38 1/3 years.
Stremcha and his fiancée were asleep in the early morning of July 20, 2011, when he awoke to the sound of breaking glass. Stremcha grabbed a knife near his bed and went to investigate. The three intruders confronted Stremcha, who managed to cut Shelby in the hand. Walker then shot Stremcha in the chest, and he died at the scene.
According to all three defendants, the men planned to rob a drug dealer they thought lived near Lake Street and 45th Avenue. They broke into Stremcha’s house on the 2900 block of 45th Avenue South, which they soon realized was not the home of a drug dealer.
Stremcha was a graduate of St. John’s University and was working at Ameriprise Financial.
