Star Tribune
Co-defendant’s change of heart restores murder case in shooting of man at Minneapolis gas station
A change of heart by a co-defendant has led to the restoration of murder charges against a 20-year-old man accused of shooting a 19-year-old man more than 2 ½ years ago at a Minneapolis gas station on West Broadway.
A second-degree intentional murder charge was refiled in juvenile court in Hennepin County last week against Albert J. Lucas, of Minnetonka, in connection with the shooting of George F. Zeon, of Plymouth, on May 6, 2021, at the Amstar gas station on West Broadway between James and Knox avenues.
Lucas was 17 years old at the time of the shooting. The County Attorney’s Office said it intends to have him charged as an adult, which it had done previously. Lucas was charged by summons and is due in court Feb. 6.
The co-defendant, Yalayna R. Butcher-Griffin, appeared in court before the trial was set to begin in April, said Nicholas Kimball, spokesman for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. But despite being under court order to show up in the days ahead, Butcher-Griffin failed to appear and could not be located, necessitating the case’s dismissal.
That all changed once the “cooperating co-defendant [was] in custody,” last week’s juvenile petition read. Butcher-Griffin remains jailed ahead of a March 5 court hearing. Her attorney was not immediately available to comment on the allegations.
According to the petition:
Surveillance video showed a vehicle pull up to Zeon as he pumped gas. Two males left the vehicle, entered the store, came out and confronted Zeon, whose girlfriend was with him.
She told police the suspects were asking Zeon about being in a gang, which confused her.
Lucas drew a handgun and shot Zeon in the head and elsewhere. The two males fled in their vehicle, with Butcher-Griffin driving. Nearly two weeks later, police found her driving the same vehicle. Butcher-Griffin picked out Lucas as the shooter from a police photo lineup.
Police spotted Lucas in a vehicle in Minnetonka and arrested him. A loaded handgun was seized near where he had been sitting.
Transforming the heart of both downtowns, which have much larger buildings than old warehouses, is going to take a lot more money, creativity and time. Josh Talberg, managing director at downtown Minneapolis brokerage JLL, said with no major apartment buildings on the drawing board in either downtown, the fleet of empty office buildings present a golden opportunity to create more housing and lead both cities in a new direction.
“You can can certainly see the fundamentals improving, and you can feel that vibrancy, and that’s ultimately the foundation that’s needed to get investors to reinvest in the city,” he said. “But it’s not as if these 18-wheelers can turn on a dime.”
The Minnesota Department of Transportation closed part of a state highway Wednesday evening near Austin because of a “major hazardous materials release” in the area.
Hwy. 56 from Hayfield to Waltham, a stretch covering about five miles, was closed in both directions and drivers were directed to follow a detour to Blooming Prairie on U.S. Hwy. 218.
No information on the hazardous materials released was immediately available.
A federal judge dismissed a civil lawsuit against Minnesota state trooper Ryan Londregan in the shooting death of Ricky Cobb II during a 2023 traffic stop.
The decision is the latest development in a case that has drawn heated debate over excessive use of force by law enforcement. Criminal charges against Londregan were dismissed by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty in June, saying the prosecution didn’t have the evidence to proceed with a case.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel granted Londregan’s motion to dismiss the civil suit, arguing he acted reasonably when he opened fire as Cobb’s vehicle lurched forward with another state trooper partly inside.
Londregan’s attorney Chris Madelsaid Wednesday that it’s been a “long, grueling journey to justice. Ryan Londregan has finally arrived.”
On July 31, 2023, the two troopers pulled over Cobb, 33, on Interstate 94 in north Minneapolis for driving without taillights and later learned he was wanted for violating a felony domestic no-contact order. Cobb refused commands to exit the car.
With Seide partly inside the car while trying to unbuckle Cobb’s seatbelt, the car moved forward. Londregan then opened fire, hitting Cobb twice.
In her decision, Brasel said the troopers were mandated by state law to make an arrest given Cobb’s domestic no-contact order violation. She said it was objectively reasonable for Londregan to believe Seide was in immediate danger as the car moved forward on a busy highway, which would make his use of force reasonable.
