Minneapolis / St. Paul News Blog

​The Hennepin County Medical Examiner says that 45-year-old Michael Fonta was the man found dead in the snow in the 300 block of 8th Street SE at about 4 a.m. Thursday -- and that somebody killed him.

According to a report in the Strib, Fonta had a lengthy rap sheet involving a lot of drunken driving, trespassing and other assorted petty crimes:

Fonta died of "complex homicidal violence," the medical examiner's office said.

​Mahdi Hassi Ali and Ahmed Shire Ali, both 17 years old, have both been indicted on charges of 1st-degree murder, and first-degree murder while committing an aggravated robbery, the wake of last month's grisly shootout at a Somali grocery store on East Franklin Avenue.

Police say Mahdi Hassan Ali was the gunman and Ahmed Shire Ali was his accomplice in the robbery attempt. Store employee Abdifatah Warfa, his cousin Mohamed Warfa, and store customer Anwar Mohammed were killed in the shootings, which sparked a massive community outpouring of grief.

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Police found a dead body in the snow this morning--they've determined that the death is suspicious.

At around 4 a.m., Minneapolis Police found a dead man lying in the snow in the 300 block of 8th Street SE. "There's some foul play suspected and it is being investigated as a suspicious death," said Sgt. Jesse Garcia. Garcia said this case will likely be Minneapolis's 8th homicide.

Police are looking for leads, and anyone with information is asked to call the Minneapolis Police Department tip line at 612-692-tips (8477).

​Details are sketchy, but Minneapolis police are reporting that they found a dead male lying in the snow at about 4 a.m. in the 300 block of 8th Street SE. Homicide Investigators on scene are trying to determine the circumstances that led up to the victim's death. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Minneapolis Police Department tip line at 612-692-tips (8477).

​By the time St. Paul police caught up 17-year-old Darius Maxwell at Maryland Avenue and Weide Street just after midnight on Saturday, his stabbing wounds had already already taken their toll. The first officers on the scene tried to keep him alive until paramedics arrived; they took him to Regions Hospital, but he died a short time later.

Now, police are charging 19-year-old Phillip Elphage with Maxwell's death. They say Elphage broke into a home on East Maryland Avenue where Maxwell was staying with Elphage's former girlfriend, and attacked the 17 year old. The woman had obtained an Order for Protection against Elphage in early December 2009.

St. Paul police will present the case to the Ramsey County Attorney's Office for formal charges today.

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Patricia Becht pled guilty and was sentenced today to killing her 10-year-old son and trying to kill her 11-year-old daughter. Becht gave her chidlren overdoses of prescription meds and told them they were going to heaven, which she said was like Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch.

Today, Judge Thomas Poch of Dakota County sentenced Becht to 38 years in prison. She pled guilty to intentional second-degree murder and to attempted second-degree murder.

On July 9, 2009, Becht gave each of her children 10 pills of Seroquel, an antipsychotic, and took 25 herself, she told St. Paul Police. She had planned the deaths and prepared her children by talking about going to heaven, according to the criminal complaint. Michael Vonheath Becht, Jr., 10, died that day. Becht's 11-year-old daughter survived. A teenage daughter was left out of the murder-suicide plan.

Last year, when the horrific crime became public, a judge ordered tests to determine if Becht was mentally fit to stand trial. Now, no trial will be necessary.

​Ryan Daniel Jones-Adams, 16, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the death of another 16-year old, Marvin Ray Maynard, on Jan 17.

Along with being accused of firing the gun that killed Maynard, Jones-Adams is alleged to have killed the teen while engaging in gang activity.

Maynard and some friends were confronted by Jones-Adams and two of his friends, who were shouting opposing Crip gang remarks, according to the criminal complaint. One of Maynard's friends responded that they were with a conflicting gang, Tre-Tre. Jones-Adams got angry, pulled out a gun, said "I'll up on your ass," ran toward Maynard, raised the gun and fired two shots at the victim.

Maynard was pronounced dead the scene of the shooting in the 2600 block of James Avenue N.

Jones-Adams is being held at the Hennepin County jail on a $2,000,000 bond.

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It appears that last week's fatal shooting of Orlando Keith Nunn stemmed from anger over a botched IRS fraud, according to the criminal complaint. Two men have been charged with robbery--but no one has been charged with murder.

The problems started when a man identified as "P.M." in the criminal complaint prepared a fraudulent tax return for Nunn's girlfriend. The plan was for the pair to split the proceeds.

But apparently Nunn's girlfriend thought she didn't get her fair share. She told 21-year-old Nunn about it, and Nunn went for revenge: He and two other men paid a visit to P.M. at his girlfriend's home and tried to rob him. Nunn allegedly waved a .45-caliber pistol around and told everybody to "get on the floor as this was a robbery and to get on the floor and get out their money as they know what time it is," according to the complaint. P.M. grabbed the pistol from Nunn, and shot him dead.

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A party at the La Quinta Hotel in St. Paul turned deadly early Thursday, when five men assaulted a man so viciously that he died of his injuries early this morning.

The victim, a 50-year-old St. Paul man, died from head injuries shortly after 7 a.m. today. St. Paul Police were called to the La Quinta, at 1870 Old Hudson Road, at about 2:56 a.m. on Thursday, where they found the victim bruised and battered. The man was taken to Regions Hospital and admitted in critical condition, with a significant head injury. The man's name has not yet been released and is being withheld pending notification of his family.

Investigators have arrested five adult men and booked them on probable cause of first-degree assault. They are:

• William Daniel Long, age 21
• Marcus Ray Badboy, age 18
• Vincent Cody Allen Long, age 18
• Marvin Joseph Brave, age 43
• Allen Dean Brave, age 41

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Orlando Keith Nunn was killed Wednesday by multiple gunshots. He was just 21 years old.

Nunn was killed in North Minneapolis on Wednesday, the 7th murder for Minneapolis so far this year. He was found dead in a house in the 1300 block of Irving Avenue North Wednseday night. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office released his name and cause of death today.

Minneapolis police are still investigating the case. They've got one man in custody, but according to a report by WCCO, the man is a witness rather than a suspect.

​Police found a man dead in North Minneapolis Wednesday night--the city's 7th homicide so far this year.

​After 18 years on the lam, Brian Scott Poquette, 46, has confessed to killing two men by the Mississippi River.

​In a moment of unvarnished -- or sociopathic, take your pick -- candor, Marquez Storey, of St. Paul, took the stand at his sentencing, defiantly told the court he had no remorse for what he'd done and said his victim deserved to die.

And he said those things right after the victim's mother had read her own statement to the court.

Emily Gurnon of the Pioneer Press was there:

​Minneapolis recorded its sixth homicide since the beginning of the year on Sunday, when a teenager was shot dead on the 2600 block of James Avenue N.

Fourth Precinct officers arrived at the scene just after noon to find the boy lying in the street. His identity has not been released yet

Police said they have no suspects in custody, but members of the Homicide Unit are following leads.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Minneapolis Police Department tip line at 612-692-tips (8477).

​The two 17-year-old boys charged yesterday in last Wednesday's triple homicide at the Seward Market and Halal Meat shop on Franklin are each being held in Hennepin County jail on $3 million bond. They made their first appearance in court on Friday afternoon.

Police say Mahdi Hassan Ali was the gunman and Ahmed Shire Ali was his accomplice in a robbery attempt that ended with each facing three counts of first-degree murder. Both were arrested last Saturday.

Store employee Abdifatah Warfa, his cousin Mohamed Warfa, and store customer Anwar Mohammed were killed in the shootings. All were buried last Friday in Burnsville.

​Two 17-year-old boys from Minneapolis, Mahdi Hassan Ali and Ahmed Shire Ali, were each charged on Thursday with three counts of first-degree murder, and will be tried as adults, in last week's triple homicide at a Franklin Avenue Somali grocery store.

According to the criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County Court, police arrived at Seward Market and Halal Meats at about 7:45 p.m. on Jan. 6 to find two men lying in a pool of blood in the store's entryway. A third victim was found further inside the store.

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Charges have been filed against Matthew Demetrius Sims, a 21-year-old with a history of violent crime who says he accidentally killed his 17-year-old friend, Justin Daniel Boecker.

The Pioneer Press follows the story today. Here's what the paper reports happened in St. Paul's first homicide on Jan. 10:

• Sims and Boecker are drinking vodka and playing video games in Sims' home Sunday afternoon. Somehow, a gun goes off, killing Boecker.

• Sims runs, in a T-shirt and shorts, to his girlfriend's mother's apartment. He tells her Boecker shot himself and that the police are looking for him. She doesn't let him in.

• Sims tells police he and Boecker had been "sharing" a revolver. He tells police that Boecker threw the gun in his lap and that when he grabbed it, the gun accidentally went off.

​The Hennepin County Attorney's office says it expects to file charges on Thursday against two teenagers in last week's triple homicide at Seward Market and Halal Meats.

Charges were expected today, but prosecutors asked for another 24 hours in the case.

"It's just a complex case," Capt. Amelia Huffman, of the Minneapolis police homicide unit, told the Star Tribune.

Store employee Abdifatah Warfa, his cousin Mohamed Warfa, and store customer Anwar Mohammed were gunned down in the Jan. 6 tragedy. All were buried on Friday in Burnsville.

The first suspect was arrested early last Saturday morning. The second surrendered to Minneapolis police at the 3rd Precinct later the same day.

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Police aren't saying whether the shooting death was intentional, but the men grew up together and were friends, according to a neighbor.

St. Paul police arrested 21-year-old Matthew Demetrius Sims yesterday on suspicion of homicide for the death of a St. Paul teenager. On Sunday afternoon, police found Justin Daniel Boecker, 17, dead of a single gunshot wound inside the home where Sims lived with family members, in the 600 block of Minnehaha Avenue.

Witnesses told police they'd heard gunshots and seen Sims run from the house. Investigators plan to present their case to the Ramsey County Attorney's Office today. Here's more on Boecker and Sims from the Pioneer Press:

​Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak was rightfully proud of his city's cops for helping knock 2009's homicide count -- 19 -- to its lowest number in years. This year, the mayor, the police, civic leaders and residents are all faced with a new, and more sobering number: Five homicides in the first eight days of the new year.

​There's been a second arrest of a second teenager in last week's triple homicide at the Seward Market and Halal Meats, on the corner of E. Franklin and 25th Avenues, after the boy surrendered to Minneapolis police at the 3rd Precinct late Saturday.

The first suspect was arrested early Saturday morning. Police said they believe they have arrested both of the males seen on a security video in the store when the shootings took place.

The three victims, cousins Abdifatah and Mohamed Warfa, along with Anwar Mohammed, where buried on Friday in Burnsville.

Before the second teenager turned himself in, Mayor R.T. Rybak used his Facebook page to praise cops and Somali community for working together in the investigation: "Great progress has been made in finding the people responsible for this horrible shooting but we need people to continue to come forward with whatever they know. After the vigil scores of new leads came in....keep circulating messages about how important it is that everyone in the community is united to bring about justice."

No further arrests have been made.

​Minneapolis police say they've arrested a teenager in connection with Wednesday's triple homicide at the Seward Market and Halal Meats on East Franklin Avenue.

The three gunned-down men were buried on Friday in Burnsville. Mohammed Warfa was the store's owner. Osman Elmi was his cousin. Anwar Mohammed was shopping at the store when the shooting started, WCCO reported.

The teen suspect is being held at the Hennepin County Juvenile Center ahead of his court appearance. Police are mum about anymore details, citing his status as a minor.

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Javaris Eugene Milton, 32, was arrested last night in connection with the murder of Dontae D. Johnson on Jan. 2.

Johnson, 31, of Champlin, was dead in the street in North Minneapolis at about 7:45 p.m. on Saturday.

Milton appears to be the same man who, 12 years ago, was shot himself half a dozen times--including one bullet that pierced his liver and his lung. Miraculously, Milton survived.

In the trial of Keevin Hinton, the man who shot him, former food writer Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl served on the jury. She wrote about the case and her experience as a juror for City Pages.

Charges haven't been filed yet against Milton.

​A shooting that claimed the lives of three men inside a south Minneapolis grocery Wednesday evening initially appeared to be a robbery attempt. But authorities aren't so sure after reviewing video footage.

A security camera inside Halal Meats on East Franklin and 25th avenues captured two suspects entering the store. Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan was tight-lipped at a press conference today, declining to offer details and refusing to speculate as to the suspects' motive.

​It was only few days ago that Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak was congratulating his police chief, Tim Dolan, on helping to bring about the city's lowest homicide rate in years. But on Wednesday evening, both men showed up at the Seward Market and Hamal Meat shop on Franklin Avenue in a show of concern and support after three men were gunned down in the store.

The deaths are the second, third and fourth homicides of the year, following Dontae Deshun Johnson's shooting death Saturday on 6th Street North. At this time last year, the homicide count was 0, and it stood at 19 by the end of the year -- the lowest in 26 years, and a 50 percent decrease compared to 2008.

The Star Tribune reported that the three dead men were members of the neighborhood's Somali community.

Police did not identify the victims of the shootings at Seward Market and Halal Meats, on E. Franklin and 25th Avenues, but Abdirizak Bihi, director of the Somali Education and Social Advocacy Center in Minneapolis, said they were Somali immigrants, cousins who had pooled their money to buy the market.

At the scene of the Seward shootings, Rybak appealed for calm, and for witnesses to come forward. Police fanned out across the neighborhood as people wept and consoled each other at the scene of the shootings. No arrests have yet been reported.

Police are asking anyone with tips to call 612-673-3786.

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A Champlin man died Saturday night -- the first murder in Minneapolis this year.

At about 7:40 p.m. on Saturday, Minneapolis police were called to the 3800 block of Sixth Street North. There they found 31-year-old Dontae D. Johnson dead in the street, the victim of at least one gunshot wound.

Police are still working on the case and have not yet arrested anyone, according to Sgt. Jesse Garcia. Police are asking anyone with information to call the TIPS line at 612-692-TIPS (8477).

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​We're less than two days away from 2010, and Minneapolis appears poised to record its lowest number of homicides in 26 years. Not only that, but the 19 killings in 2009 represent a 50 percent drop over the previous year's number.

Those are figures that Mayor R.T. Rybak was happy to trumpet via Twitter on Wednesday morning, linking back to a big reaction piece in the Star Tribune: "Thank you to community, MPD officers and Chief Dolan for your work cutting homicides to lowest number in 26 years."

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The St. Paul police have arrested one man for allegedly shooting another dead late Monday. And looks like the man police shot and killed Tuesday was not the killer.

Rashad Burch, 25, of St. Paul, was arrested late last night on suspicion of murder in the shooting death of Dwight Raymond Tate. In a related charge, 19-year-old Denisha Gardner, also of St. Paul, was arrested on the probable cause charge of felony riot.

Tate, the shooting victim, died two miles away from a 20-person fight that escalated into a shooting late Monday night. The fight took place at an apartment complex at 1619 East Maryland Avenue. According to police, Gardner encouraged and participated in the fight. Police investigators plan to present their case to the Ramsey County Attorney's Office for charging.

Not only did one man die as a direct result of the fight, another lost his life when he tried to flee police. Romell Hill was shot by officers after he discharged his gun at one of them, according to police accounts. The 19-year-old Hill died on the scene.

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Police are still sorting out the details of a gunfight that left one man dead and led to the death of another. A St. Paul police officer was also wounded.

The deadly series of events started at about 10:45 p.m. Monday. St. Paul police were called to 1619 East Maryland Avenue, where about 20 people were fighting, and shots had been fired. When police arrived, there was blood in the parking lot. Witnesses said that the shooting victim had gotten into an SUV and left.

Moments after police arrived, an SUV crashed about two miles away, near the intersection of Maryland Avenue and Edgerton Street. Dwight Raymond Tate, age 24, of Saint Paul, was inside the SUV and suffering from a gun shot wound. Paramedics took him to Regions Hospital, where he later died. Investigators determined that Tate sustained the gunshot fired at the apartment building.

While St. Paul officers were at the apartment building investigating, two men believed to be involved in the flight crept out of an apartment window and tried to flee. Officers chased them. One man surrendered. The other, 19-year-old Romell Hill, allegedly struggled as officers tried to arrest him. "Hill discharged his weapon striking one of the officers in the leg," according to a police news release.

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Tim Jackson, the teen who died early Saturday morning, was fatally stabbed by a man he was trying to rob.

Jackson, 17, was an American Indian who had just been accepted to college, according to a family friend. On Tuesday, 17-year-old Andre Sheldon Whirlwind Horse, was charged with attempted robbery, Minnesota Public Radio reports:

Whirlwind Horse told police he and Jackson had planned to go to the Greenway to find someone to beat up and rob.