Third man convicted in Little Earth slaying

A Hennepin County jury on Wednesday convicted a man on two counts of first-degree murder for a 2011 robbery-turned-slaying in Minneapolis' Little Earth community.

Nisius McAllister, 41, was found guilty in the murder of Michael McMillan by a jury after a weeklong trial, according to the Hennepin County attorney's office. McAllister's two co-defendants, who are his nephews, already had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Justin Fineday, 23, is expected to receive 25 years in prison at his sentencing. Leondis McAllister, 27, who admitted to being the shooter, already was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Minneapolis police were called Aug. 14, 2011, to a report of shots fired in an alley behind 2502 18th Av. S. . When they arrived, they found McMillan beaten and with two bullet wounds. Witnesses described the suspects, and they were arrested short time later.

According to charges, the three met McMillan to buy drugs but decided to rob him. Nisius McAllister will be sentenced to life without parole on June 24.

ABBY SIMONS

Bloomington SUV fire kills one person inside

An SUV caught fire Wednesday morning in Bloomington and its lone occupant was killed, authorities said.

The blaze occurred shortly after 8 a.m. on northbound Old Cedar Avenue just south of 86th Street, about a quarter-mile west of a fire station, according to police.

When police and fire personnel arrived, they found one person dead in the driver's seat inside the fully engulfed vehicle, police said.

Authorities have yet to disclose how the fire started. The victim's name was being withheld pending notification of family.

Witnesses told police that the SUV was moving just moments before it caught fire, said Cmdr. Mark Stehlik, but there was "no vehicle crash, no accident, nothing like that."

Paul Walsh

Second arrest made in St. Paul bar shooting

A 22-year-old Minneapolis man wanted in the shooting death of a St. Paul bar owner was arrested Wednesday, according to police.

Cheng Vang was arrested about 1 p.m. Wednesday, said Howie Padilla, a St. Paul Police Department spokesman.

Vang and his brother-in-law Yia Her, 26, of Oakdale, were charged Tuesday with second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder in the shooting that killed Vone Moua, 45, early Sunday at Malina's Sports Bar. Two other people were injured in the shooting.

Her had been arrested over the weekend.

Moua, who was also a social worker, had owned the bar at 691 N. Dale St. for at least 10 years with his wife.

Nicole Norfleet