Charges in drive-by that injured sleeping child

Marquell Johnson was charged with a drive-by shooting which injured a five-year-old girl who was sleeping in her home, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Thursday.

Johnson, 27, of Minneapolis was charged Thursday with one count of dangerous weapons-drive by shooting and one count of prohibited person with a firearm. He is expected to make his first court appearance Friday.

According to the criminal complaint, police were called to a downstairs duplex in the 2100 block of Fourth Street North at 6:43 a.m. Monday where a five-year-old girl had been shot in her foot.

The girl’s mother told police she was driving to a gas station about a block from her house when she saw a black Honda Civic slowly driving towards her residence and stop by a mini-van across the street from her home. She told police she had a bad feeling because she recognized the driver, Johnson, as someone who was acquainted with the people who lived in the upper duplex, the complaint states.

When the girl’s mother heard gunshots a couple minutes later, she left the gas station and drove home. She found her daughter, who had been asleep, had been struck by the bullet that had passed through the wall, according to the complaint.

At the hospital with her daughter, the mother was able to provide police with a Facebook photograph and an alias for Johnson from someone else’s account, the complaint states. Police were able to determine his real name. In the photos from Johnson’s own Facebook account, Johnson is holding a Glock handgun, which is illegal because he has a substantial criminal history, including a second-degree burglary conviction, which prohibits him from possessing a gun.

Johnson Criminal Complaint (PDF)