Star Tribune
Minneapolis man charged in double Dinkytown murder from December arrested in Chicago, bail set at $2 million
A 25-year-old Minneapolis man arrested recently in Chicago recently now stands charged with murder in connection with a double homicide last December in a Dinkytown tobacco shop.
Maleek Jabril Conley is charged with four counts of second-degree murder in Hennepin County District Court and stands accused of killing two and wounding a store clerk with a bullet intended for another victim inside Royal Cigar & Tobacco on Dec. 3. Conley was extradited to Minneapolis on Monday and remains in custody while the whereabouts of a co-defendant remain unknown. He made a first court appearance Tuesday where his bail was set at $2 million.
Gunfire erupted inside the shop after a brawl broke out between two groups of customers in the tiny family-owned smoke shop at 14th Avenue and 4th Street SE near the University of Minnesota campus around 2:15 a.m., before a posted closing time of 3 a.m. Killed in the chaotic scene that was captured on bystander video were Bryson Lamarr Haskell and Jamartre Michael Sanders, both 24 and from Minneapolis.
Video depicted a melee involving at least seven men, with two exchanging punches on the floor as products spilled from shelves.
According to the charges:
Haskell and Sanders were shot in the head and neck multiple times while the store clerk was struck by a stray bullet in the buttocks. The clerk told police that the victims were with one of the groups that got into a verbal altercation and fistfight that he and other employees attempted to stop. But a gunman, identified as Conley, entered the store and unleashed a barrage of semiautomatic gunfire.
Video corroborated the clerk’s account and revealed that Conley fired directly at Haskell and Sanders while standing three feet away. Conley also fired at least twice at a fourth victim from close range but missed and the clerk was wounded instead. The charges reflect two attempted murders and two intentional murders.
A store employee pressed a panic button which locked everyone inside. When Conley realized this, he shot out the glass door and crawled out the metal frame, followed by four accomplices.
All five men ran to a stolen Kia and fled the scene. The getaway driver was identified, but has not been formally charged. The Star Tribune does not typically name an individual until they have been formally charged.
The stolen Kia was located outside a suspect’s apartment building on Elliott Avenue. Surveillance video from the apartment showed all five men retreat there 15 minutes after the shooting.
Investigators say that Conley was the only one to display a firearm during the violent encounter. He fired at least 24 shots, according to the number of recovered 9mm discharge casings. He also left fingerprints on a glass counter in the store.
The other three men are only identified by initials in court records; one is related to Conley. All are known members of a south Minneapolis street gang.
Investigators say that Haskell and Sanders were associated with a north Minneapolis street gang and they believe the murders stem from a rivalry.
Star Tribune staff writer Liz Sawyer contributed to this report.
After about five minutes and several warnings that students participating in the protest would be suspended,, the protesters exited Northrop and Cunningham continued her speech. They later gathered outside on the mall afterwards to shout, “Cunningham, you will see, Palestine will be free.”
Cunningham recounted the story of Norman Borlaug, the U alumnus and agronomist whose research in wheat saved millions from starvation, and said she would prioritize keeping a college education affordable for students.
Cunningham actually took over presidential duties on July 1, replacing Interim President Jeff Ettinger. She oversees a budget of more than $4 billion to run the university’s five campuses, which enrolled more than 68,000 students and employed 27,000 people during the last academic year.
She was chosen for the job last winter over two other candidates: Laura Bloomberg, president of Cleveland State University and former dean of the U’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and James Holloway, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of New Mexico. She is the U’s second woman president, following Joan Gabel who held the office from 2019 to 2023.
Cunningham will be paid more than $1 million per year — about $975,000 in base pay and an additional $120,000 in retirement contributions. The compensation puts her in the top quarter of Big Ten university presidents.
Sgt. Gordon Blackey, once a security guard to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, allegedly admitted to tracking the woman’s movements in her vehicle, according to a criminal complaint.
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Minnesota corrections officials are investigating after an inmate was found dead at the state prison in Moose Lake.
The 37-year-old’s cellmate found the man unresponsive in their room about 10:40 a.m. Tuesday, according to a news release Wednesday from the Corrections Department. Staffers immediately started life-saving efforts, but those efforts failed.
The department’s Office of Special Investigations is looking into the death, with help from the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office. The inmate’s identity was being withheld until notification of family.
