Murder charge against man who convinced woman to leave salon

A Minneapolis man was charged with murder and the woman driving the vehicle in which he fled was charged with aiding an offender in a Brooklyn Park shooting, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Friday.

James Alvin Hill, 31, was charged with second-degree murder. Deshawn Slaughter, 31, of Minneapolis was charged with aiding an offender to avoid arrest. They are expected to make their first court appearance Monday.

According to the criminal complaint, a Brooklyn Park Police squad car was flagged down by numerous people at about 4:20 p.m. Wednesday at Brookdale Drive and Zane Avenue. The officer was directed to the parking lot of the Gold Key Mall where he found a woman lying in the parking lot bleeding from a gunshot wound to her abdomen. She died a short time later at North Memorial Health Hospital.

The woman had walked into the hair salon at the shopping center and was met by Hill, who asked her if she remembered him, the complaint states. It appeared that after a moment she did and they hugged. Hill then asked her to come outside so he could show her something. Witnesses in the salon heard a pop and saw the woman collapse to the ground.

Police recovered a 9 mm Winchester Luger discharged cartridge casing in the parking lot. They also looked at the surveillance video and it showed Hill and the woman walking over to a gray SUV, where Hill opened the front passenger door and then the woman struggled with him. Hill pointed his arm at the woman and she stumbled backwards, according to the complaint. Hill grabbed her purse, jumped into the SUV and it drove away.

The video also showed the license plate number of the SUV, which registered to Slaughter. Police eventually arrested Hill and Slaughter as they left Slaughter’s home and recovered a purse identical to the murder victim’s purse, a credit card in her name and a 9 mm handgun loaded with Winchester Luger rounds, the complaint states.

Hill Criminal Complaint (PDF)

Slaughter Criminal Complaint (PDF)