A long prison sentence awaits a convicted sex offender who has admitted in court to fatally choking a young mother in her Park Rapids, Minn., apartment after having just met her online and having sex with her.
Harvey D. Leritz, 21, of Menahga, Minn., pleaded guilty Tuesday in Hubbard County District Court to second-degree intentional murder in the death on Feb. 23 of Kiela G. Knowles, 19, in her apartment in the 100 block of E. 3rd Street.
The county attorney's office said Leritz will receive the nearly 28-year sentence called for by state guidelines, with at least two-thirds of that served behind bars before the rest is served under supervised release.
At the time of her death, Knowles left behind a 2-year-old son.
Police say Leritz and Knowles met online shortly before he killed her.
In September 2013, Leritz had been sentenced in Hubbard County for fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct and received a 10-year stayed sentence for having sex with a teen under 16 years of age.
According to the criminal complaint in Knowles' death:
Police were called to the apartment and found the body of "an unclothed, unresponsive female with a pillow over her face."
An investigator learned that Leritz was the last person to be seen with Knowles and saw apartment building surveillance video showing him entering and exiting her residence several times the previous day.
Police met with Leritz after he arrived at the apartment on the afternoon after Knowles' body was discovered, and he acknowledged having sex with Knowles and then "killing her by choking her for 20 to 30 minutes."
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
