Guilty plea in downtown parking ramp murder

In Hennepin County District Court this morning, Benjamin Love, 46, pleaded guilty to murdering 31-year-old Mai Yer Cha in a downtown Minneapolis parking ramp last summer.

Love pleaded guilty to second-degree unintentional murder and will be sentenced on March 8 to 288 months in prison, more than recommended by the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines. The reason for that upward departure is because Love was convicted of two other violent felonies prior to committing the murder. He also pleaded guilty to two other counts related to the murder and to a separate aggravated robbery committed in 2016 and will serve 78 monthly concurrently.

According to the criminal complaint, Love, of Minneapolis, stabbed Cha after holding a knife to her friend’s throat as he was trying to rob the group when they were returning to their car in Ramp B just before 1 a.m. on July 15, 2017. Cha was stabbed in the heart when she tried to stop Love.

The women had gone downtown together and when they went to the parking ramp to get their car and drive home, Love joined them in the elevator. He waited for them to get out and then, just before the doors closed, got off and went up behind the women to rob them.