Murder and Homicide

Stephon Shannon indicted in Nizzel George murder

Stephon Shannon, the 17-year-old charged earlier this summer in the fatal shooting of a 5-year-old in north Minneapolis, has now been indicted by a grand jury for first-degree murder. Shannon was previously charged with aiding and abetting murder in the first degree, a felony that could carry a ma ... More >>

Derrick Catchings charged as adult in shooting of north Minneapolis teen

Derrick Deangelo Catchings, a 16-year-old from Brooklyn Park, will be tried as an adult in the murder of a teenager slain on his bike last summer in north Minneapolis, according to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office. Catchings has been in jail since last September on a separate case, and made hi ... More >>

Timothy Bakdash guilty of murdering Benjamin Van Handel

​Timothy Bakdash was found guilty of second-degree murder by a Hennepin County jury yesterday afternoon. Hennepin County prosecutors charged Bakdash with first and second-degree murders over a spring 2011 incident where Bakdash, who had been drinking at The Library Bar in Dinkytown, deliberately ... More >>

Jonathan Rubio-Segura on trial for murder, faces possible deportation

Hennepin CountyJonathan Rubio-Segura killed Anthony Gale in March 2010.​Jonathan Rubio-Segura is living two nightmares. The 27-year old is on trial this week for second-degree murder after he drunkenly punched Anthony Gale in the face outside a downtown strip club in March 2010. Rubio-Segura's su ... More >>

Shea Stremcha identified as South Minneapolis murder victim

​The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office has identified Shea Stremcha as the victim of a homicide in South Minneapolis.Stremcha, 25, was shot to death in his own home just after 3 a.m. Wednesday. It's unclear whether Stremcha was targeted or killed at random.Police originally told KSTP that ... More >>

Salli Schultz charged with murder in baby's death

Schultz is charged with murder, and operating a daycare without a license.​ Salli Schultz has been charged with murder in the death of an eight-month-old baby she was supposed to be taking care of. Schultz, of Lindstrom, was watching Brooke Kowarsch on Jan. 19 when the baby suffered a traumatic ... More >>

Christopher Tarell Clark arrested for murder of Darrell M. Fisher

Hennepin County mug shot​Police have arrested 19-year-old Christopher Tarrell Clark on suspicion that he killed a man in north Minneapolis last month. When Minneapolis cops arrived in the 2700 block of Humboldt Avenue North on June 13, they found 22-year-old Darrell Fisher lying dead in a nearby ... More >>

David Raisch-Day, teen from Cass Lake, ID'd in latest homicide

​David Raisch-Day, an 18-year-old from Cass Lake, has been identified as the man who took a bullet in the head in last Thursday night's homicide in south Minneapolis. Police say he was standing among a group of people outside a home on the 2700 block of Longfellow Avenue South when shots were ... More >>

Murderer Michael Swanson smiles his way to two life sentences

Swanson took two lives, and got two life sentences.​Michael Swanson took the lives of two Iowa store clerks for cigarettes and $31 in cash, and now he's losing the rest of his own life to prison. Swanson, 18, got a life sentence for the murder of Sheila Myers, and another for killing Vicky Bowman- ... More >>

Man gunned down in south Minneapolis dies at HCMC

​Police got to the scene of a shooting in south Minneapolis last night in time to keep the victim alive long enough for an an ambulance ride to Hennepin County Medical Center, but he died this morning. The medical examiner's office hasn't made the victim's name public yet.

Michael Swanson smiles at murder conviction

Swanson, not smiling during his mug shot, now faces life in prison.​Michael Swanson laughed for the cameras when he was arraigned after a grisly double homicide in Iowa last fall, and the 18-year-old from St. Louis Park smiled today in court when he was convicted of killing Sheila Myers, one o ... More >>

Darrell Fisher ID'd as homicide victim on Humboldt Avenue

​Twenty-two-year-old Darrell Fisher has been identified by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner as the man who died late Monday night in a shooting on Humboldt Avenue North. Police found him an adjacent alley. Another man was found shot but alive in a nearby home, but his injuries are describ ... More >>

North Minneapolis shooting leaves one man dead, another injured

​Minneapolis police officers found a man shot dead in an alley behind the 2700 block of Humboldt Avenue North last night, and another man shot but alive in an adjacent home. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office will release the dead man's identity and official cause of death later, M ... More >>

Chrishaun McDonald, Dean Schmitz's accused killer, allegedly reacted to transgender slur

​Chrishaun McDonald was charged last week with stabbing Dean Schmitz to death near the Schooner Tavern in south Minneapolis, and now there may be a clue as to why. Although 23-year-old McDonald is being charged as a man, he's transgender, and he got into a fight with 47-year-old Schmitz, who taun ... More >>

Chrishaun Reed McDonald charged in stabbing death of Dean Schmitz

​Chrishaun Reed McDonald, who was taken into custody the night Dean Schmitz was stabbed to death last weekend in south Minneapolis, has now been charged with second degree murder. The 23-year-old man's booking photo hasn't been released yet. He's being held in Hennepin County jail on $500,000 ... More >>

Dean Schmitz stabbed to death outside Schooner Tavern

​The Hennepin County Medical Examiner has identified 47-year-old Dean Schmitz, of Richfield, as the man who was stabbed to death early Sunday morning near the Schooner Tavern in south Minneapolis. Minneapolis cops and paramedics found him alive at about 12:30 a.m. on the 2900 block of 27th Av ... More >>

Man stabbed to death after brawl outside Schooner Tavern

​One man was stabbed to death and another was arrested after a brawl that started outside the Schooner Tavern in South Minneapolis early Sunday morning. Minneapolis police and paramedics were called to the scene in the 2900 block of 27th Avenue South at about 12:30 a.m., where the victim was ... More >>

Biyamin Beiti Omar charged with murdering Guled Hashi Mohamed

​Guled Hashi Mohamed was sitting in the passenger seat of a car parked at Nicollet and 18th the night before Memorial Day when a man ran up to the window from behind and put a bullet through Mohamed's temple. Biyamin Beiti Omar was the gunman, the Hennepin County Attorney's office said this a ... More >>

Guled Hashi Mohamed's family pleads for murder witnesses to come forward

​Somebody must have seen something helpful to police when Guled Hashi Mohamed was gunned down on Nicollet Avenue Sunday night of Memorial Day weekend, and his family held a vigil yesterday where he was shot to plead for help bringing in Mohamed's killer. "My son was brought here at a young ag ... More >>

Guled Hashi Mohamed dies after Memorial Day weekend shooting

​Guled Hashi Mohamed has been identified as the 26-year-old man who was shot late Sunday night near the corner of Groveland and Nicollet avenues, just south of downtown Minneapolis. Police say he died this morning at Hennepin County Medical Center. The shooting was one of five Sunday night ... More >>

Ben Van Handel wasn't Timothy Bakdash's intended target on the night he died

​It was just last week that Timothy Ayman Bakdash was indicted on first degree murder charges in the death of Benjamin Van Handel. But the narrative of why Bakdash ran the U of M student down and killed him has changed considerably. Van Handel apparently died in a case of mistaken identity.

Edward Trondell Baker ID'd in latest south Minneapolis homicide

​Edward Trondell Baker has been identified as the man who was shot early Tuesday in the 5700 block of Sander Avenue, just a few blocks north of Highway 62 and the perimeter of Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport. The Hennepin County medical examiner said the 24-year-old man died of multipl ... More >>

Man shot and killed in south Minneapolis

​An unidentified man was shot and killed early this morning in south Minneapolis, in the 5700 block of Sander Avenue, which is a few blocks north of Highway 62 and the perimeter of Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport. Minneapolis police say the man was alice when they reached him, and ... More >>

Derrick Griffin, minister, charged with murdering Kristopher Miller

Kristopher Miller was shot dead on May 11.​Derrick Griffin, an associate pastor at the North Side's True Vine Missionary Baptist Church, has been charged with murdering North High School staffer Kristopher Miller, who was found shot dead in front of his home last week. Griffin, 40, was arrested l ... More >>

Derreck Griffin, minister, arrested in Kristopher Miller's shooting death

Kristopher Miller was a popular North High staffer.​Minneapolis police have arrested 40-year-old Derreck Griffin, an associate pastor at True Vine Missionary Baptist Church on the city's north side, in connection with Kristopher Miller's shooting death early Tuesday morning. Griffin, who is ... More >>

Keontrell Govan's shooting death: Ishmael Rashad Moore, Dashaunta D'Mar Gomez charged

​Ishmael Rashad Moore and Dashaunta D Mar Gomez, both 17, have been charged in the shooting death of 18-year-old Keontrell Govan. Police found Govan with a bullet in his head last Wednesday afternoon in the alley behind the Church of St. Bridget in North Minneapolis. Medics rushed him to Nort ... More >>

Man dies after North Minneapolis shooting

​Minneapolis police say that a man found shot and unresponsive late Wednesday, on the 3800 block of Emerson Avenue North, died of his wounds yesterday at North Memorial Medical Center. MPD spokesman Stephen McCarty had no information this morning about the man's identity. The Homicide Unit i ... More >>

Stephanie Smith ID'd as fourth Minneapolis homicide victim of 2011

​The woman shot dead Monday night in South Minneapolis has been identified as 21-year-old Stephanie Smith. The MCTC psychology student was riding in a car on Park Avenue South with an unidentified man when someone opened fire from another vehicle. Minneapolis police were already responding to ... More >>

Minneapolis stabbing victim dies: Homicide No. 5 for 2011

​Early Saturday morning, at about 5 a.m., Minneapolis cops responded to a 911 call about a stabbing at 2427 18th Avenue South, just south of East Philips Park and west of Cedar Avenue. Officers arrived, then medics, and the victim was rushed to HCMC. He died this morning. The Hennepin Count ... More >>

Woman shot dead in south Minneapolis

​Minneapolis police were already responding to 911 calls about gunfire in the 3400 block of Park Avenue South last night when when they got another call. Two gunshot victims had shown up at the Abbott Northwestern ER, about six blocks north. One of those two, a woman whose name hasn't been releas ... More >>

Jeremee Jon Kraskey shot dead in South Minneapolis

​Jeremee Jon Kraskey became the third Minneapolis homicide victim of 2011 when police found his body early Saturday morning in a back yard less than a block from Powderhorn Park. He died of multiple gun shot wounds, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner.

Michael Swanson claims insanity in Iowa double homicide

Swanson claims he was insane.​Seventeen-year-old Michael Swanson, famous for smiling and laughing after being charged in November with murdering two Iowa gas station workers in two separate shootings, plans to claim insanity as a defense when his trials start this summer.

Lake Calhoun homicide pushes Minneapolis past 2009 mark

​West Lake Calhoun Parkway, better known for its stately old homes and views of one of the most popular lakes in Minneapolis, became the scene of the city's 19th homicide last night after police found the body of a man shot dead there in a park. The death means that Minneapolis has now record ... More >>

Anton Warren and Romaze Stevens confirmed 17th, 18th homicides

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner confirmed this morning that housemates Anton Warren, 31, and Romaze Stevens, 30, both of Minneapolis, were the two men shot to death on Friday in the 3300 block of Russell Avenue N. Their deaths mean that the 2010 Minneapolis homicide count has already passed las ... More >>

Trace Maxwell linked by Glock to triple homicide

​Investigators still aren't sure why Trace Maxwell went on a deadly shooting spree early Thursday morning before killing himself, but they've tied him to the three homicides by way of a Glock pistol. The Glock was found in Maxwell's SUV where it crashed on Lake Street after he shot himself to ... More >>

Robert Blake Castonguay named 12th Minneapolis homicide of 2010

A man who got into a fight last week and died early yesterday morning is Minneapolis's 12th homicide.

Ryan Stanley Hurd indicted by Minnesota grand jury on murder charges

Hurd is accused of stabbing his Eagan, Minn. girlfriend more than 100 times and leaving her in a ditch.

Minneapolis homicides: Murderopolis redux?

Mayor R.T. Rybak: "We've had several good years followed by several bad nights"

Fifth homicide in less than two weeks rattles Minneapolis

Walter Lee Dolley Jr., 19, was shot dead Friday night as he was walking from a store with friends.

Murder of Somali man may have been revenge

The Somali man shot dead Monday was a key witness against another Somali convicted of murder.

Man killed in North Mpls was murder suspect

Christopher Dangelo Dozier, 23, is the man who was shot dead late Monday. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner released his name today.

Rommal Bennett's trial revisits spate of gay murders in the Twin Cities

Case could solve August 1996 slaying of Wally Lundin

Weirdest RNC Conspiracy Theory: Obama murdered gay lover

Minnesota ranks high in black murder victims

Johnny Earl Edwards: the archive

Number 26

Fifteen-year-old Gary Parker was the 26th of Minneapolis's 49 homicides last year—and one of the 54 percent of black male victims whose killings went unsolved.

Three murders and one reaction

The Plot Thickens

More tales of slippery snitches, pearl-handled guns, and the shell casing that grew on the lawn

Last Train Out

Hobos have been hopping freights since the Civil War. Now a new generation of riders is hitting the tracks--stockbrokers, students, and the occasional serial killer.

State's Evidence

A police informant with a mile-long rap sheet proves unreliable in at least the third--but possibly not the last--of the so-called "Bloods" cases.