HIBBING, Minn. — When Deshon Israel Bonnell was first sentenced nearly five years ago, it was supposed to provide some closure for the family of Joshua Lavalley.
Deshon Israel Bonnell (St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office)
Bonnell had, after all, admitted to fatally shooting the Aurora man, and his agreement to plead guilty provided a relatively quick resolution to the court process without subjecting Lavalley’s family to a trial.
That was until Bonnell successfully appealed his own guilty plea — reopening old wounds and forcing the victim’s family to endure a multiweek trial last month.
“I pray that we never have to do this again,” Lavalley’s sister, Joann Vergoth, said Tuesday. “I pray that he gets to spend the rest of his life behind bars — a sentence he didn’t have to have, but one he surely deserves.”
Had Bonnell, 23, stood by his original plea, he would have had an opportunity to petition for parole after 30 years in prison. But his decision to recant the confession and face a jury sealed his fate: He is now expected to die in prison.
St. Louis County District Judge Rachel Sullivan imposed a life term without the possibility of parole — a mandatory sentence for his premeditated first-degree murder conviction.
It was a fitting consequence as far as Lavalley’s family was concerned. Having lived with the trauma for more than five years, they spoke in scathing terms about the defendant.
“I hope Bonnell eventually regrets the day that he destroyed so many people’s lives and can be as miserable as he makes the rest of us,” said Jonni Tracy, another sister of the victim. “But I doubt it, because he’s a coward. I hate him with every fiber of my being. He can and will never be forgiven by me or my family.”
Bonnell, for his part, did nothing to dissuade the family of their notions. He sat reclined in his chair at the counsel table, displaying no apparent emotion as five victim impact statements were read. And when given the chance to speak, he was unrepentant.
“Regardless of what everyone believes, I’m innocent,” Bonnell said, drawing scoffs from several members of the gallery. “Y’all believe what y’all want to believe, but I’m innocent. Y’all got the wrong guy.”
Bonnell, then 18, initially admitted that he led a blindfolded Lavalley down the Mesabi Trail in Hibbing on Jan. 6, 2019, shooting him twice in the face.
While he was evasive about certain details in the September 2019 plea, court documents and the testimony of two co-defendants indicated the killing was staged in response to the victim’s alleged advances toward Bonnell’s girlfriend.
A snowmobiler later discovered Lavalley’s body, which had to be identified based on fingerprints. His family learned of his death on what should’ve been his 34th birthday.
While Bonnell admitted to the crime, the Minnesota Supreme Court in December 2022 granted his request for a new trial, finding that his testimony did not technically meet the legal requirements of the charge to which he pleaded guilty.
Lavalley’s family said that decision made them lose a lot of faith in the justice system — though they have since regained some trust through the efforts of the jury, judge and St. Louis County prosecutors Bonnie Norlander and Tyler Kenefick.
Family members described an immense emotional toll — physical and mental struggles, missed birthdays and milestones, constant nightmares and a general distrust of strangers. Lavalley, they said, was a private and non-confrontational person.
Robert Lavalley said a “real man” would never take the life of another in an execution-style situation that leaves the victim defenseless.
“In my religion, I was taught to forgive,” the father said, “but I cannot forgive Bonnell for what he has done.”
Norlander noted that it was Bonnell’s right to appeal his conviction, but she said he did not extend the same right to Lavalley. He received a benefit from accepting responsibility in 2019, the prosecutor said, but now he’ll pay the full price for taking no responsibility.
Defense attorneys Kevin Cornwell and Brittani Mayberry did not make any argument, noting the mandatory nature of the sentence. Cornwell said Bonnell’s family wished to attend the sentencing but was unable to make it Tuesday.
Judge Sullivan thanked Lavalley’s family for their statements and asked Bonnell to spend time in prison reflecting on his decisions.
“It brings me profound sadness the lack of accountability and responsibility that you’ve shown,” the judge said, “and the impact that has on the (Lavalley) family and, frankly, on your own family.”
Sullivan acknowledged the sentence would do little to “ease the pain and trauma” endured by so many, but expressed hope that the Lavalley family could find “some modicum of peace.”
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