Man pleads guilty, gets nearly 40 years in killing of Minneapolis mother who was holding her child

    MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Twin Cities man pleaded guilty last week to fatally shooting a mother in Minneapolis and injuring the 2-year-old child she was holding, officials said.

The 21-year-old man from Savage pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of second-degree intentional murder and one count of first-degree assault in connection with the May 2024 shooting, according to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office. He was sentenced to 347 months on the murder count and 103 months on the other. The sentences, which total 37.5 years, will be served consecutively.

According to charging documents, the woman — whom officials have identified as Lilian Perez — was in the backseat of her family's car, which was parked in an alley on the 2900 block of 18th Avenue South on May 19, 2024. When her husband left the car, the 21-year-old walked up to the car and fired multiple shots, hitting Perez and her child, prosecutors said. Two other children in the car were unhurt.

Perez later died at a hospital. The 2-year-old survived.

"This was a devastating act of violence that took Lilian from her family, injured her child, and traumatized others. My thoughts are with everyone impacted by Mr. Ali's actions and I wish them the best as they move forward with their lives," Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said. "No sentence can return or repair what was lost that day, but the nearly 40-year sentence holds Mr. Ali accountable and protects the community."

The man was originally charged with one count of second-degree murder and four counts of attempted second-degree murder.