Minneapolis man charged in fatal convenience store shoot-out

A 19-year-old Minneapolis man was charged in the murder of a man at a North Minneapolis convenience store, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Tuesday.

Demerio Davis was charged with one count of second-degree murder in the fatal Sunday shooting of 23-year-old Samuel Abron-Yeager of Fridley. Davis also was charged with being a felon in possession of a gun. He is expected to make his first court appearance Wednesday.

According to the criminal complaint, about 9:30 a.m. Sunday two young men walked into the Emerson Food Market at 2628 Emerson Ave. N. A short time later, Davis and 18-year-old Jamarius M. Shief of Minneapolis entered the store. The two groups of men began discussing something and Davis and Shief left the store and Davis went around a corner.

The two men then returned to the store and Shief began punching one of the men in the store. As that was happening, Davis held the door open with one hand and fired at Abron-Yeager. Abron-Yeager pulled out his own gun, chased after Davis and fired several shots outside the store before crumbling to the ground from his bullet wounds, the complaint states.

Abron-Yeager is suspected of having fatally shot Shief, although the investigation is continuing.

Davis was arrested minutes after the shooting about two blocks from the store. Davis was adjudicated delinquent in 2013 for aggravated robbery and was prohibited from possessing any firearms.

Prosecutors are seeking an upward departure at sentencing if Davis is found guilty. The departure is because numerous other community members, including children, were present in and around the store at the time of the shooting.

Davis Criminal Complaint (PDF)