Levi Larteh sentenced to 55 years in 2025 apartment stairwell slaying

Chris Flynn / The Forum By Tasha Carvell Today at 4:36 PM Listen Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? FARGO — A Fargo man continued to claim his innocence Monday, Nov. 9, during his sentencing hearing for what prosecutors called the "execution" of a rap rival last fall. Levi Larteh, 27, was arrested Oct. 28, 2025, one day after 28-year-old Nadin Khoury was shot and killed in the stairwell of Larteh's apartment building, located at 2714 47th St. S. in Fargo. ADVERTISEMENT Prosecutors said Larteh's motive for the ambush-style slaying was envy after a YouTube producer and social media influencer aided Khoury's rap career and ignored Larteh. A Cass County jury convicted Larteh of murder and reckless endangerment in late August after a week-long trial and just three hours of deliberation. The state's case against Larteh hinged primarily on Ring camera footage from a doorbell at the top of the second floor stairwell of the apartment building. The footage showed Larteh walking out of his apartment and entering the stairwell just seconds before the gunshots that were later determined to have killed Khoury can be heard. Khoury and his girlfriend had relocated to live temporarily with a friend on the same floor of Larteh's apartment building just three days earlier, an investigation showed, after a shooting at their home during a gender-reveal party celebrating Khoury, his girlfriend and the impending birth of their son, prosecutors said. A search by investigators of Larteh's phone revealed he FaceTimed with one of the men suspected in the gender-reveal party shooting the day before Khoury was killed. Assistant State's Attorney Ashlei Neufeld said the evidence was clear that Larteh "ambushed" Khoury "in an act of of jealous revenge." "Everything leads back to Levi Larteh," she said during her closing argument at trial. "The defendant wanted what Mr. Khoury had. He wanted the connections ... the money ... the fame ... the likes. He wanted to be more than what he was. ... Mr. Larteh was given an opportunity that he took." ADVERTISEMENT At sentencing, Neufeld detailed Larteh's extensive prior criminal history, which included several assaults, some of them sexual. She said Larteh executed Khoury in a "planned-out ... blindside attack," without provocation or remorse, and asked for a sentence of life without parole. Jereline Johnson, the mother of Khoury's son, gave a victim impact statement. "How do you explain what it feels like to lose somebody while carrying their child?" she asked. "When my son's father was killed, I was only four months pregnant. Our baby was still growing inside of me." Chris Flynn / The Forum She addressed Larteh, saying he'd taken away her now 7-month-old child's chance to experience a father's love. "You took away moments, memories, and an entire future that we will never get back," she said. "Your Honor, I ask that you consider a lifelong impact of this crime while determining the sentence. My son will never get to meet his father ... but he will grow up knowing that his father existed and that he was loved and that his life mattered. ... I have to spend the rest of my life explaining to a little boy why his father isn't here." Larteh's attorney at sentencing was Jay Greenwood, who was appointed to the case after Larteh "discharged" his trial attorney, Leah Viste. Greenwood told Judge Susan Bailey that in reviewing the sentencing factors and Larteh's case, he couldn't find any "that are in his (Larteh's) favor." Instead, Greenwood argued against a sentence of life without parole. ADVERTISEMENT "I would ask the court to allow the opportunity for Mr. Larteh to perhaps get some rehabilitation, perhaps work his way through his sentence in the prison system, and perhaps come out a better person," Greenwood said. He said that while "the court is well within its rights" to issue a life without parole sentence in the case, "I don't necessarily think we need to incarcerate another human being for the rest of his life, simply for in exchange for another. ... I do think that the parole board should be given the opportunity to make a determination as to whether or not Mr. Larteh has made it far enough and changed his actions in a way that would suffice his release on parole." Given an opportunity to speak before sentencing, Larteh continued to deny that he had murdered Khoury and instead claimed that Khoury had threatened to kill him. Chris Flynn / The Forum "Victim said he was gonna kill me by September. He even knocked my tooth out my mouth. He even said he was gonna torture me when he sees me. He's not an innocent person. To the family, y'all out here crying like y'all don't know he was out there making kill threats. His time was coming sooner or later. I did not kill him, but one of them did," Larteh said. "But I'm glad they did. I have my reasons because what he did to me." He also said claims that he was envious of Khoury were wrong. "They say jealousy. I never been jealous of no man my whole life. We can ask my own mom. I never ask my mom to buy me a pair of shoes. I want to buy everything myself. I'm not jealous of somebody who want to kill me. That doesn't make no sense," he said. Larteh's mother and stepfather were present in the courtroom and his stepfather asked to make a statement on behalf of the family, but was refused the opportunity after Larteh said he preferred "no one speak on his behalf except for him," Greenwood told the court. ADVERTISEMENT Bailey said she was "a bit flabbergasted" by Larteh's claims during his statement, adding, "We sat through the same trial. We heard the same testimony, and we saw the same evidence." Chris Flynn / The Forum She told Larteh that while murders are not frequently committed here, they stand out for the dark reminder they leave. "Every case that I have, I remember, because they're hard, not just for me, but for everyone here, and for the community that feels less safe," Bailey said. "You have woken us up in a little respect that there are individuals on our streets carrying around ... very nasty, powerful weapons in a cavalier way who are willing to use them with little to no provocation." She said Larteh's motive was not an element of the offense but it provided important context. "You may claim to not be jealous, but you're not being sentenced for being jealous. You're being sentenced for planning and executing a murder. Your intent to kill was clear, and if anybody else had been in that stairwell, other than your intended victim, it would have been disastrous," she said. The judge sentenced Larteh to 55 years in prison. The law requires him to serve at least 85% of the sentence, or 46 years, before he is eligible for parole, Bailey noted. Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? Tags Tags CRIME AND COURTS SHOOTINGS HOMICIDE GUNS FARGO By Tasha Carvell Tasha covers the criminal justice system and North Dakota's congressional delegation for The Forum. She can be reached at 701-241-5527 or [email protected] . 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