Maplewood man charged with second-degree murder, South Minneapolis shooting

A Maplewood man has been charged with second-degree murder for fatally shooting another man in South Minneapolis, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Thursday.

Jerome Randle, 29, has been charged with intentional second-degree murder for a June 21 shooting near Target Center. A warrant for his arrest has been issued.

According to the criminal complaint, on June 21, Minneapolis Police responded to a shooting in the area of Habon Grill in South Minneapolis. Several people had been shot and were transported to the hospital, including one male victim, who went into surgery for a gunshot wound to the torso and died shortly after.

Police learned that leading up to the incident, the victim was fighting a male, 30-year-old Gregory Easley. Randle and another male, Sirvonte Varner, 32, joined the fight and began assaulting the victim.

On June 22, officers obtained a video posted on social media that captured most of the assault, the complaint states. With a crowd watching the fight, Easley is seen approaching the victim and punching him in the head. Randle then approaches the victim and pistol whips him in the back of the head.

Investigators obtained surveillance video from the area which showed Easley and Varner beating the victim at Target Center, and what appeared to be a handgun in Randle’s possession. At 12:41 a.m., the victim crossed First Avenue North near 7th Street with Randle and the other two suspects pursuing him, the complaint states. A minute later, at 12:42 a.m., a large crowd that gathered to watch the fight disbursed suddenly, consistent to how a gathering of people would react to unexpected gunfire.

On June 23, police interviewed a witness who told them he attempted to help the victim, but Randle, the one he saw pistol whip the victim, threatened him and said, “This isn’t for you, but if you run up it will be.” Another witness said that Randle was the only one who appeared to have a gun.

View the criminal complaint against Randle (PDF).