Prosecutors charged a 33-year-old man with second-degree murder after they say he fatally shot another man during a fistfight last week.
Jamar Mullins remained jailed Tuesday for his role in the Aug. 9 slaying of Lonzo Washington, 28, in Minneapolis' Near-North neighborhood. Mullins was set to make his first appearance before a judge later that afternoon.
Homicide detectives worked quickly to identify and arrest the suspect, just hours after the incident.
According to charges filed in Hennepin County District Court, witnesses told police that Washington was sitting with two men on the front steps of an apartment building in the 1000 block of Morgan Avenue N. shortly after 8 p.m. last Thursday when Mullins walked up and exchanged words with Washington. The two men traded blows when police say Mullins pulled out a gun and shot Washington once, causing him to fall into the road.
Washington was pronounced dead at the scene. The shooting occurred across the street from the home of Fifth Ward Council Member Jeremiah Ellison.
Witnesses recalled seeing the suspect fleeing on foot, heading southbound on Morgan, before disappearing. Mullins arrested early the following morning at his girlfriends house.
Detectives interviewed several witnesses at the scene, including two people who had been with Washington moments before he was killed. They described the suspect as wearing dark blue T-shirt, shorts and blue, white and black tennis shoes. Mullins was wearing the same-colored shoes when he was arrested.
A surveillance camera from the apartment building captured the moments leading up to the shooting, but didn't record the incident itself.
