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Derrick Thompson guilty on federal gun and drug charges
The charges are connected to a fatal incident in which Thompson is accused of hitting a vehicle with his SUV, resulting in the deaths of five young women.
ST PAUL, Minn. — A jury has found Derrick Thompson guilty of drug and firearm charges stemming from a high-speed crash that claimed the lives of five young women in Minneapolis.
Thompson faced three charges – possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, being a felon in possession of a firearm and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.
The trial lasted less than a week. On Tuesday, jurors watched a violent and graphic video that showed Thompson’s rented SUV running a red light at high speed and crashing into a vehicle waiting at a stoplight. All five passengers inside the car that was struck were killed.
But both prosecutors and Thompson’s defense team told jurors it was not the most important piece of evidence they’d see in the case, urging them not to attempt to analyze the crash itself.
“This is a case about an armed drug dealer,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Calhoun-Lopez told the panel. “We are here today because (the) defendant crashed that car carrying 2,000 fentanyl pills, cocaine, fentanyl powder, and a loaded gun.”
Calhoun-Lopez explained Derrick Thompson’s subsequent fleeing and lying to police following the deadly crash proves the gun and drugs were his. In addition, DNA testing links Thompson to the items.
But the defense offered the jury an alternative theory that was absent from the public realm until recently when it was revealed that Thompson had a passenger in the rental car – his brother Damarco Thompson.
Thompson’s attorney Matthew Deates told jurors that Damarco is the flashier of the Thompson brothers and that he likes colorful, flashy things like the blue cap police found on the passenger side of the Escalade. Deates added that the colorful wrap on the handgun matches those tastes and that the spot where police found the bag containing the gun and drugs also points to the defendant’s brother. The bag was located under Damarco’s blue hat.
“That is the definition of confirmation bias. It’s tunnel vision. It does not make it right. This caused the government to charge the wrong person. But you – as the jury – gets to weigh the evidence and decide,” Deates said in his opening statement.
Thompson’s legal woes are far from over – he faces five counts of third-degree murder and five counts of criminal vehicular homicide at the state level.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and the victim’s family agree with the findings of the MN Conviction Review Unit that Edgar Barrientos-Quintana is innocent.
MINNEAPOLIS — In a court hearing 16 years to the day that 18-year-old Jesse Mickelson was killed in a drive-by shooting in south Minneapolis, the prosecution and defense both asked a judge to release Edgar Barrientos-Quintana — the man convicted of first-degree murder in his death — as he looked on via a video monitor from the prison.
“I will get a decision out as soon as I can,” said Anoka County Judge John McBride.
McBride was brought into the case to avoid a conflict of interest, as Judge Hilary Lindell Caligiuri was a prosecutor in the case.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and Barrientos-Quintana’s defense agreed to stipulated facts they provided the judge, along with several exhibits for him to review.
The state’s Conviction Review Unit said they believe Barrientos-Quintana could not have committed the crime because he was seen in a video in a grocery store in Saint Paul, 33 minutes before the shooting in south Minneapolis occurred.
Friday in court, Barrientos-Quintana looked on remotely from a screen at the prison as the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office told the judge it agreed with Barrientos’ defense.
The victim’s family was in court hoping for the defendant’s release.
“My only concern today is the judge comes back with a decision as soon as possible and honors the decision and the attorneys’ decision and releases him. I’m hoping,” said Jesse’s sister Tina Rosebear.
There is a new direct flight option coming to the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport.
MINNEAPOLIS — You can travel from the Twin Cities to Denmark’s capital city without any layovers starting this coming spring.
Delta Airlines will launch the first MSP to Copenhagen flight in May 2025, with flights going through the summer.
“This route creates an invaluable connection between two major SkyTeam partner hubs, providing unrivaled connectivity and travel options for customers traveling between Scandinavia and North America,” said Joe Esposito, Delta’s Senior Vice President – Network Planning in a news release.
Copenhagen is the largest city in Denmark and is a major tourist destination in the region. The CCO at Copenhagen Airport Peter Krogsgaard said in a news release they are excited to welcome more American visitors.
Delta is calling the new flight option “Scandi Summer.” The flights are in partnership with the Scandinavian Airlines System, which Delta signed a codeshare agreement with in September.
“The codeshare agreement will improve connection opportunities for customers flying between North America and Scandinavia and will offer reciprocal codeshare and frequent flyer benefits including the ability to earn and redeem SkyMiles or SAS EuroBonus points across both carriers,” Delta explained.
Delta said this summer will be its largest ever in terms of trans-Atlantic flights, “with over 700 weekly flights to 33 European destinations and beyond.”
In September, Delta announced it will begin offering nonstop service from MSP to Rome next spring as part of its 2025 trans-Atlantic schedule. An airline spokesperson said the flights will occur four times a week starting in May.
For more information about Delta’s 2025 trans-Atlantic flight plans, visit its website.
Morgan Geyser, who is now 22 years old, filed a third petition seeking her release from a psychiatric hospital.
WAUKESHA, Wis. — A Wisconsin woman accused of stabbing her classmate to please horror character Slender Man more than a decade ago asked a judge again Friday to release her from a psychiatric hospital.
Morgan Geyser, who is now 22 years old, filed a petition with Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren seeking her release from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute. The petition marks the third time in the last two years she has asked Bohren to let her out of the facility.
She withdrew her first petition two months after filing it in 2022. Bohren denied her second request this past April, saying she remains a risk to the public.
Geyser’s attorney, Anthony Cotton, didn’t immediately respond to email and telephone messages Friday morning.
Geyser and Anissa Weier were 12 in 2014 when they lured Payton Leutner to a Waukesha park after a sleepover. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times while Weier egged her on. Leutner barely survived.
The girls later told investigators they wanted to earn the right to be servants of the fictional Slender Man and that they feared he would harm their families if they didn’t carry out the attack.
Geyser pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide and was sent to the psychiatric institute because of mental illness. Weier pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree intentional homicide and was also sent to the psychiatric center. She was granted a release in 2021 to live with her father and was ordered to wear a GPS monitor.
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