North Dakota Supreme Court Upholds Sentence in Grand Forks Murder

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(KNOX) – A man convicted in a Grand Forks murder has lost his appeal, after the North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and sentence.

Cazmere Haskins was 17 years old when he was arrested and charged with stabbing Anfernee Economy to death outside an apartment complex in March 2024. Prosecutors said Haskins stabbed Economy in the chest with a knife during an altercation between two groups of young people in a Grand Forks apartment parking lot. Economy died from the stab wound.

With the assistance of counsel, Haskins pleaded guilty to murder under a plea agreement. The deal allowed him to ask for a downward departure to as low as 15 years. He was ultimately sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Haskins later appealed, arguing his guilty plea was not knowing, voluntary and intelligent and that his 40–year sentence was cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment.

The North Dakota Supreme Court rejected those arguments and affirmed the judgment, leaving his conviction and 40–year sentence in place.