Shooter in Ayla Mintjes murder to serve 22 years in jail after appeal

The appeals court in Amsterdam sentenced 25-year-old Jeremia T. to 22 years in prison on Tuesday for his part in the murder of Ayla Mintjes over three years ago. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) had recommended 28 years in prison against T. two weeks ago.

Mintjes (27) and her boyfriend were shot at with automatic weapons when they drove out of a parking garage on the Maassluisstraat in Amsterdam-West at 8 p.m. on 16 May 2021. Mintjes was hit in her back during the rain of bullets. Police found 36 cartridges at the scene. She passed away in the hospital. Her friend Anis B., who was on a death list and was the actual target, was unharmed.

The court sentenced T. to 20 years in prison in 2022 after the OM had recommended 30 years. On appeal, his case was separated from the case against his two co-suspects last year because he changed his lawyer at the last minute.

Both of the other men were sentenced to 30 years in prison on appeal last September. T., who had denied all the accusations up to that point, broke his silence. At the beginning of this year, he made two confessional statements in which he admitted to being one of the shooters.

Although the prosecutor doubted the sincerity of his confessions two weeks ago in court, T. said he confessed out of remorse - the court took the confession in favor of the shooter when imposing the sentence. "In cases like these, it is not usual for perpetrators to confess and take some responsibility for their actions," the court said. The court also considered that, according to experts, T. has slightly reduced accountability and that he had a limited criminal record until this case.

To prevent the risk of recurrence, the court imposed a freedom-restricting and behavior-influencing measure on T., which will result in increased supervision after his sentence. Together with his co-perpetrators, he must pay Mintjes' relatives several dozens of thousands of euros in compensation.