Minneapolis man, 29, accused in shooting death of his teen lover

Minneapolis police say 15-year-old Joquese Loyd was slain after an altercation during a gathering of friends.

By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

Last update: April 29, 2008 - 8:52 PM

Fifteen-year-old Joquese Loyd waved a kitchen knife in the face of Shaunell (Lunatic) Johnson. Later, she stood before the 29-year-old man in his living room and yelled that she wasn't afraid of him.

Johnson took the handgun off his lap and pulled the trigger.

Nothing.

He pulled the trigger again, and this time the gun fired, killing his onetime sexual partner in his north Minneapolis home.

That's how charges filed Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court explain what led to the Loyd's death on Saturday.

Johnson is charged with second-degree murder. Loyd, of Minneapolis, was slain during a gathering of friends that afternoon at a house in the 1100 block of 18th Avenue N. in the Near North neighborhood.

Loyd, also known as Jacques Brown, has a birthdate that would make her 19. She used that name and age when she had been previously arrested, police said. They said she is actually 15.

The charges say that Johnson had "sexual relationships" with both Loyd and a woman who was in the home at the time of the shooting.

According to the charges:

In an interview with police, the woman said that she, Loyd and another female took a bus from south Minneapolis to Johnson's home. They were going to see "Lunatic." The woman said she didn't know his real name, but that word is tattooed on his neck.

Outside the house, the woman said that she and Loyd began fighting physically but soon made up.

Loyd later confronted the 250-pound Johnson with the knife because he would not talk to her, the woman said.

After shooting Loyd, a bloodstained Johnson told police at the scene that he was planning to take her to the hospital and also repeatedly asked officers to "do something."

A cocked .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun was found in a trash bin in the alley behind the home.

Loyd's death was the city's 13th homicide of the year.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482