A former student was ordered to spend a year in the Hennepin County workhouse after he admitted to savagely beating a Minneapolis Public Schools staff member.
Corey David Burfield, 19, was also sentenced to five years' probation after he pleaded guilty Thursday to first- and third-degree assault for the May 22, 2018, assault that left Mohammed Dukuly, 45, a paraprofessional at Harrison Education Center, with lasting injuries. Harrison is an alternative high school for teens with severe emotional and behavioral disorders.
"I was independent, now I am dependent on people," Dukuly said in court, according to a news release from the Hennepin County Attorney's Office. "Pain is within me, I can't move alone today. That's the kind of pain CB [Corey Burfield] did on my life."
The prosecutor and defense attorney agreed to argue the sentence immediately following Burfield's plea. Prosecutors argued for more than seven years in prison, as recommended by state sentencing guidelines, while the defense asked for probation.
According to charges, a school resource officer sitting in a main area saw Burfield approach Dukuly, knock him to the ground and punch him a number of times. When emergency personnel arrived, Dukuly was unresponsive and lifesaving measures were necessary. Surveillance video showed Burfield grabbing Dukuly's belt where keys to the building were attached, according to a criminal complaint. Dukuly tried to push Burfield away and Burfield grabbed him by the shirt, shoved him into a wall and then to the ground, punching Dukuly numerous times on the head and neck with a closed fist, the complaint said.
Dukuly suffered head injuries and was "unconscious but breathing" when emergency responders arrived at the school in the 500 block of Irving Avenue N., according to 911 dispatch audio.
Burfield will report to the workhouse on Oct. 30.
STAFF REPORT
