Mankato man accused of murder after man found dead in car

A Mankato man has been charged with murder after police found a dead man inside a vehicle with a gunshot wound to his neck.

A’Quan Kaishaid Laurence Thornton, 23, of Mankato was charged in Blue Earth County District Court on Wednesday with second-degree murder with intent but no pre-meditation.

Police said Muridi Hassan Hussein, 27, of Mankato, was killed Sunday morning in the 400 block of Holly Lane.

According to charges filed Wednesday:

Mankato officers responded to a call from a woman saying someone had threatened her and slashed her tires. Police then received reports of gunfire near Holly Lane at around 9:30 a.m.

They found Hussein in a car at a nearby business. Investigators believe he drove there before dying from his injuries.

Two witnesses in the car said they were driving around when Hussein received a threatening video call from Thornton, who brandished a gun and threatened to shoot Hussein over a money dispute. One witness in the car reported seeing Thornton on Holly Lane with the same weapon. When Hussein made a U-turn, Thornton allegedly fired three to six shots.

The woman also said Hussein was her ex-boyfriend, and that he had threatened her as he drove past her that morning as she inspected her slashed tires outside her apartment building.

The woman told police that Thornton took a gun with him when he went outside the apartment building to check his car for damage.

The woman said Thornton told her that Hussein had tried to run him over and that he might have shot him.

Thornton told police that he and Hussein had a dispute over money and THC cartridges.