Grand jury indicts Minneapolis man accused of killing ex-girlfriend

A grand jury on Thursday indicted a Minneapolis man on first-degree murder charges in the fatal shooting of his ex-girlfriend outside her North Side home in September.

David Wright, 51, now faces the possibility of life in prison without parole if convicted of the killing of 34-year-old Mariah Samuels. Her death came less than three weeks after she received a protective order against him — and just hours after she called police to report that he was stalking her.

The indictment by a Hennepin County grand jury on two counts of first-degree murder says the slaying was premeditated and that it took place with a past pattern of domestic abuse.

“The system we entrust to keep us safe failed to protect Mariah, despite her doing everything we ask of victims of domestic violence,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement lauding the indictment. “Leaders within the system must hold themselves – and be held – accountable.”

She added that her team’s prosecution will hold Wright “accountable for his actions and will protect our community.”

Wright was initially charged with second-degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm in connection with the Sept. 14 homicide — a case that sparked widespread community outrage and exposed longstanding gaps in the way Minneapolis police investigate domestic violence.

In the aftermath of an investigation by the Minnesota Star Tribune, Police Chief Brian O’Hara ordered a thorough review of the department’s handling of the Samuels case and directed that every officer be retrained on domestic assault protocols by the end of 2025.

“The steps that were taken should have resulted in an arrest,” Samuels’ sister, Simone Hunter, said at a rally outside the courthouse this fall. “It should have resulted in a warrant. It should have resulted in David not coming out of jail for the rest of his life.”

Yet Samuels, a dog groomer and mother of two, was shot 10 times and killed shortly after calling 911 to report that Wright had violated her no-contact order.

Wright, who was on federal probation for illegal gun possession at the time of Samuels’ death, has a prior domestic assault conviction from 2003. In that case, Wright pointed a stolen handgun at his then-girlfriend and her 15-year-old after the woman ended their relationship and kicked him out of the house, court records show. When the teen attempted to call 911 during the altercation, Wright ripped the phone from the wall and smashed it on the ground before threatening to shoot them.

He was sentenced to five years in prison. Wright later served 15 years in federal prison for an unrelated firearms offense. He met Samuels less than a year after his release.