One of two suspects charged in murder investigation

The man seen with the car used to flee the scene of a Minneapolis murder last week was charged with aiding an offender after the fact, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Wednesday.

Jahee E. Omar, 39, of Minneapolis is scheduled to make his first court appearance today and prosecutors will be seeking bail of $1 million.

Omar, and another man who has not been arrested, are suspected of killing 38-year-old Johnnie Fenn Jr., of Troy, Alabama. He died of a gunshot to the heart.

According to the criminal complaint, Fenn went to the home of a friend on the evening of Nov. 14 and asked the friend to drive him to North Minneapolis to meet with someone. When they arrived, two men got in the backseat of the car and they drove to the area near Dowling and Fremont Avenues North and parked behind a gold Cadillac.

Fenn talked to the two men about buying and selling narcotics and Fenn’s friend got out of the car and was a short distance away when he heard gunshots inside the car, shouting and more shooting. He ran a little ways to avoid being shot but saw the two men get out of his car, jump into the gold Cadillac and drive away. The friend ran back to his car, saw Fenn had been shot and drove to Hennepin Healthcare where he was pronounced dead at 11:25 p.m., the complaint states

Police were able to determine from ShotSpotter that the shooting occurred at 11:04 p.m. Fenn’s friend gave police the street name for one of the two men and investigators learned that suspect owned a gold Cadillac. In the early morning of Nov.16, police learned the Cadillac was abandoned in a Burger King parking lot in Blaine, according to the complaint.

Investigators reviewed video of the parking lot and saw Omar drop off the car the morning of Nov. 15 and then drive away in a Chevrolet Blazer. The next day, officers went to the residence of the registered owner of the Blazer, found Omar there and arrested him.

In an interview, Omar confirmed that he and the other suspect were in the backseat of the car with Fenn and his friend, but that it was much earlier in the evening. After smoking marijuana and K2 together, Omar asked the other suspect if he could drive the Cadillac to his girlfriend’s house in Blaine and the man agreed, the complaint states. Omar claimed that he left in the Cadillac and was the only one who had it from 9 p.m. on Nov. 14 until the next morning when he dropped it at the restaurant parking lot.

Omar Criminal Complaint (PDF)