ROCHESTER - A grand jury in Rochester has handed down first-degree murder charges to a man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend on Christmas more than a year ago.
Mustafa Rahshad Bush, 40, previously faced two counts of second-degree murder. The grand jury’s indictment, filed Thursday, upgraded Bush’s charges to two counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder.
A passerby walking a dog found 41-year-old Kimberly Robinson’s body Dec. 26, 2022, in a snowy ditch near River Bluffs Lane NW. and W. River Road in Cascade Township. An autopsy showed Robinson died from a gunshot wound to her neck.
Witnesses and family members told police Robinson and Bush were briefly together on Christmas Eve, though Robinson spent the night with family before going to a friend’s house, according to court records. Witnesses said Robinson and Bush were fighting at the time.
According to the complaint, cellphone data placed the two together at their southeast Rochester home from early Christmas morning to about 9 p.m. that day, when communication between Bush’s cellphone and cell towers cuts off.
Robinson’s cellphone was tracked from their house to the 1400 block of Marion Road and then to northwest Rochester and W. River Road before the phone stopped pinging its service provider, records state.
Court records say investigators watched Bush move what was later revealed as Robinson’s clothes, ID, credit cards and other belongings to a car belonging to one of Bush’s relatives. Police also found a half pound of cocaine among Robinson’s possessions, according to the complaint.
Attorneys for Bush have tried to exclude cellphone data taken from search warrants, but an Olmsted County District judge ruled against their efforts last fall.
