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Teen Gets 23 Years In Golden Valley Beating Death

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A 17-year-old man has been sentenced to more than 23 years in prison for the beating death of James Teto Grant, who was found dead in Theodore Wirth Park.

Leonard Baker  will have the possibility of parole after serving two-thirds of his sentence. He pleaded guilty to second-degree intentional murder in January.

Baker and two others were arrested after Grant's body was found on July 18, 2010. An investigation revealed the men allegedly beat Grant to death during a gang initiation.

According to the criminal complaint, the men tried to bury Grant's body but after that was unsuccessful, they stole a car battery, tied it to his leg and attempted to submerge the body in the pond at Wirth Park.

His body was discovered by a kayaker about a week later.

One of the other teens, 17-year-old Emmanuel Garmodhen Myles, was sentenced to 31 years and eight months in prison on two counts of second-degree murder.

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