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.
