WILLMAR, Minn. — A Minneapolis man was sentenced to prison for more than 38 years stemming from a 2024 crime spree that started with a domestic assault reported at a Lyndale Avenue apartment in South Minneapolis and ended with a fatal shooting outside Willmar in west-central Minnesota.
Ameer Musa Matariyeh, 27, pleaded guilty in August to second-degree murder in the killing of 55-year-old Jerome Skluzacek, of New London. Matariyeh also pleaded guilty to attempted murder of another man from Lake Lillian, whom he shot while fleeing police.
Matariyeh was sentenced Monday in Kandiyohi County District Court to the presumptive prison terms under state sentencing guidelines of 306 months for second-degree murder and 153 months for attempted second-degree murder. The sentences will run consecutively, totaling more than 38 years. He had already served 397 days in jail credited toward the 153-month sentence.
SMALL FILE — MAX. WIDTH FOR PRINT: 1 INCH — Ameer Musa Matariyeh, 25,of Minneapolis was in custody as of Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 at the Kandiyohi County Jail in Willmar, Minn. What started as a Tuesday domestic assault at an apartment building in Minneapolis ended 90 miles west of the metro area in a deadly shooting near Willmar, with another gunshot victim near Lake Lillian. On Wednesday, authorities identified the fatally injured victim as Jerome Skluzacek, 55, of New London. The Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office said in the news release that the injured victim, identified as Peter Mayerchak, 25, of Lake Lillian, was in stable condition and expected to survive. Matariyeh was booked into the Kandiyohi County jail Tuesday and charged with murder and attempted murder on Thursday. Charges are likely pending in Minneapolis as well. (Courtesy of the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office)
Before being sentenced, Matariyeh read a letter of apology when given the opportunity to speak to the court. He apologized to Skluzacek’s family, some of whom observed Monday’s hearing virtually, saying he could not imagine the pain and loss of what they were going through and that he deeply regretted the actions he took that resulted in the man’s death on Oct. 22, 2024.
Matariyeh also apologized to the man he had shot in Lake Lillian, who survived his injuries.
“I thank God that you survived,” Matariyeh said, adding that no one deserved to go through what he put his victims through on that day.
“I hope you find it in your hearts to forgive me,” Matariyeh said, adding that if they could never forgive him, he understood why. “Peace be upon all of you and may his soul rest in peace,” Matariyeh said in reference to Skluzacek.
Matariyeh then apologized to his family, as his father and mother were both in the courtroom in Willmar. He then apologized to his infant daughter for effectively abandoning her as a result of any sentence.
“By the time you understand what I’m saying in this letter, I will have missed the most important years of your life,” he said. “Just know that you did nothing wrong.”
Matariyeh’s lawyer William Walker had submitted Norgaard addendums to Mataryieh’s guilty pleas in August. Norgaard pleas are entered when a defendant asserts a loss of memory of the circumstances surrounding the charged offenses, but agrees that the evidence is sufficient for a jury to find him guilty.
Norgaard pleas have no bearing on sentencing and are adjudicated the same as any other guilty plea. In exchange for Matariyeh’s plea, Kandiyohi County prosecutors agreed to dismiss a felony first-degree assault charge and a felony charge of fleeing police in a motor vehicle.
Walker argued Monday that Matariyeh be sentenced concurrently on the charges, saying his client was “very remorseful” and did not make light of pleading guilty. Walker added that in more than 30 years of practice in various cases, he observed Matariyeh to be the most consumed over taking responsibility for his actions even though he had no clear memory of what he did that day.
“Nothing he can do will erase what happened,” Walker said, adding that there is “no good outcome” as a result of Monday’s sentencing hearing, describing the charged crimes as “heinous” and that the heavy task of determining an appropriate sentence for Matariyeh’s crimes was now up to the court.
In response, First Assistant Kandiyohi County Attorney Kristen Pierce noted that three statements from victims were submitted to Judge Stephen Wentzell for review, though none were read for the record.
She described Matariyeh’s crimes as “senseless,” saying Matariyeh had shot a man in Lake Lillian, whom he had never met, while he was simply outside his home performing routine chores.
She said Matariyeh had told crisis negotiators over the phone, “If I don’t see my daughter, I’m going to kill someone.” Pierce said that after Matariyeh shot the man, who fled inside his home, Matariyeh continued shooting toward him and the home, not knowing the man’s wife was also inside.
Pierce said Matariyeh even told those on the phone that he had just killed someone when he got back into the vehicle and continued fleeing westbound. Thankfully, the man did survive, she said.
Unfortunately, Mr. Matariyeh was successful in his second attempt to kill someone, Pierce said. After law enforcement requested that OnStar vehicle connection services disable the vehicle in which Matariyeh was fleeing, he got out of the car, approached Skluzacek on the Highway 71/23 bypass outside Willmar and shot him.
Skluzacek was a bystander, someone whom Matariyeh did not know, Pierce said. There is no way for anyone to protect themselves from any random attacks such as these, she said.
“What’s most concerning is that even in the presentence investigation, he makes no mention of any of the victims,” Pierce said adding that the presentence investigation also showed that Matariyeh still would become angry when talking about his relationship with his daughter’s mother and “still blamed her for weighing on his mental health.”
Although Wentzell agreed to Pierce’s arguments to deny defense motions for a lesser sentence, he declined to issue the maximum allowable sentences. Wentzell ordered the presumptive terms for each offense, per Minnesota’s sentencing guidelines.
Wentzell said law enforcement officers did everything in their power that day to intervene and yet Matariyeh still persisted in his actions.
According to the criminal complaint, Skluzacek was rear-ended by the vehicle Matariyeh was driving in an apparent carjacking attempt to continue fleeing police. He had been pursued for hours by law enforcement, originally from Minneapolis.
Officers were about 600 feet away from Matariyeh when they saw him shoot Skluzacek in the cabin of his pickup truck. Matariyeh then threw the gun into a ditch along Highway 23, just outside the city of Willmar.
According to the complaint, he then fled on foot, and shortly before he was arrested officers could hear him telling someone on the phone that police were going to kill him and he didn’t want to die.
In Minnesota, convicted offenders must serve at least two-thirds of their sentence in custody before being considered for supervised release of any remaining time. According to the Minnesota Department of Corrections, Matariyeh will not be eligible for parole for at least another 25 years. Matariyeh’s expected release date from prison is March 25, 2050. His sentence will expire on Jan. 22, 2063.
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