Couple indicted in gas station murder

Rodney Jackson and Derionna Leake made their first appearances this week following an indictment by a Hennepin County Grand Jury in the shooting death of a man at a gas station, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Tuesday.

Jackson, 27, no permanent address was indicted on first-degree premeditated murder and second-degree intentional murder in the death of 18-year-old Mohamed Abdi of Bloomington. Leake, 21, of Robbinsdale was indicted on charges of aiding and abetting first-degree murder, aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree riot.

According to the criminal complaints filed long before the grand jury indictments on July 11, Jackson was driving a Chevrolet SUV and his girlfriend, Leake, was in the passenger seat when they pulled into a gas station in the 2400 block of Bloomington Avenue south on Nov. 6, 2018.

Jackson pulled up to a gas pump and the couple headed into the store. When they came back, Jackson’s SUV was boxed in. The car in front of them was driven by Abdi. Quickly, Jackson, Leake and Abdi got into an argument and Leake threw a Vaseline jar at Abdi, the complaint states.

That dispute ended when the SUV behind them moved and Jackson and Leake left. However, Jackson parked across the street rather than leaving the scene. Leake got out of the SUV and started throwing more objects at Abdi’s vehicle. In response, Abdi threw rocks in her direction. Jackson pointed a gun out the driver’s window, aimed, fired one shot and struck Abdi in the head, killing him.

Jackson Criminal Complaint (PDF)