Donell Flowers charged with second-degree murder

A Minneapolis man has been charged with intentional second-degree murder in a gang-related shooting, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Wednesday.

Donell Flowers, 24, a self-admitted member of the Tre Tre Crips, was charged with intentional second-degree murder in connection to the shooting death of a rival Low-End gang member. Two other men have been identified as shooters: Edward Lee and Tylan Bland. Flowers is currently in custody on Federal probation for a weapons offense. He will make his next court appearance August 5 at 10:30 a.m.

According to the criminal complaint, Minneapolis Police responded to a shooting at North Memorial Medical Center on June 4 at 9:11 p.m. A Shot Spotter activation at 34th Avenue and Dupont Avenue North recorded multiple shots just prior to officers receiving the dispatch. When police arrived, the victim, a rival gang member of the Low-Ends, was found deceased in a white Jeep with a gunshot wound to the back of his head. Police found multiple bullet defects in the SUV and that the rear window was shattered.

Witnesses at the scene of the shooting, 34th Avenue and Dupont Avenue North, noted the occupants in the white Jeep drive through the area, slow down, and exchange words with four men near a black Tahoe. Witnesses heard gunshots fired shortly after, and all four men appeared to be shooting at the white Jeep as it drove away, the complaint states. Shot Spotter recorded gunfire at 7:49 p.m.

The victim was driven to North Memorial Medical Center and left by the driver where he was later found dead inside the Jeep.

Another witness near the area of the shooting stated that a group of men watched for rival gang members driving around 36th and Colfax Avenue North. When the white Jeep passed by more than once, those men got into a vehicle and drove to 34th and Colfax Avenue North where they appeared to wait for the Jeep to return, the complaint says. The witness stated that he entered a home in the area and heard dozens of gunshots soon after. The witness also claims that he saw Flowers with a “Tech-9” or similar firearm.

In a police report, a female witness stated that Flowers picked up his baby at 35th and Emerson Avenue North, two blocks away from where the shooting happened on the same night. She provided the cellphone number for Flowers which was confirmed by his probation officer. Search warrants for his cell service provider were executed, and his cell site tower information was mapped out by the F.B.I. which showed that Flowers was in the area on the night of the shooting, the complaint states.

On July 6, Flowers was taken into custody at a convenience store on the 3600 block of Penn Avenue North. He dropped a loaded .380 handgun to the ground before being arrested.

View the criminal complaint against Flowers (PDF).