A clash between strangers on a Metro Transit bus in Uptown over a cigarette ended with one of the men fatally stabbing the other in the neck, according to charges.
Derek Leake-Bey, 56, was charged Wednesday in Hennepin County District Court with two counts of second-degree murder in connection with the death of 53-year-old Robert L. Commodore about 2 a.m. on April 24 near Lagoon and Emerson avenues.
Leake-Bey, of Minneapolis, remains jailed in lieu of $1 million bail. His attorney declined to comment Thursday on the allegations against his client.
According to the criminal complaint:
Officers reviewed bus surveillance video and saw Leake-Bey and another passenger board and sit near the rear. Commodore boarded and also sat near the back.
The passenger with Leake-Bey picked up a cigarette near a man who was sleeping, prompting Commodore to intervene. The passenger and Commodore spoke briefly before the passenger tossed the cigarette at Leake-Bey and walked away.
Commodore told Leake-Bey to return the cigarette to the sleeping man. Leake-Bey pulled out a knife. Commodore pushed him away, and Leake-Bey "immediately stabs [Commodore] directly in the left side of the neck," the charges read.
Leake-Bey got off the bus with the knife in his hand and evaded arrest until Wednesday.
Court records show that Leak-Bey has been convicted of at least two dozen crimes throughout his adult life, including once for criminal sexual conduct, six times for theft, five times for robbery and twice each for weapons violations and drug possession.
There have been 35 homicides in Minneapolis so far this year, according to a Star Tribune database. At this time last year in the city, there were 29 homicides.
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