Jury finds Robbinsdale man guilty of striking, killing girlfriend with vehicle

A two-week trial concluded with a Hennepin County jury convicting a Robbinsdale man for running over and killing his girlfriend with a vehicle in May 2020, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.

After starting trial on January 19, the jury found Jordan Jefferson, 30, guilty of second-degree murder for striking his girlfriend with a vehicle and killing her. He was also convicted of two counts of felony domestic assault for assaulting his girlfriend and another female victim.

Jefferson will be sentenced on March 3.

According to the criminal complaint, on May 29, 2020, Minneapolis police responded to a crash near the intersection of 17th Avenue North and Bryant Avenue North, and noticed a vehicle with significant damage to the front. Officers approached, and saw a female victim dead in the back seat.

A witness, B.M., who was in the car with Jefferson and his girlfriend, told police that Jefferson was driving, and the victim was in the front seat, when the two got into an argument. Jefferson punched the victim in the face, and when B.M. tried to intervene, Jefferson continued to physically assault the victim, the complaint continues.

The victim eventually got out of the vehicle and walked away. After she did, Jefferson put his foot on the gas, accelerated towards the victim and hit her with his vehicle.

Jefferson continued to drive with the victim trapped under the vehicle. He didn’t stop until he struck the front porch of a residence, the complaint states. After finding the victim unresponsive, Jefferson put the victim in the back seat and fled the scene.

While driving away, Jefferson crashed the vehicle again, making it inoperable. He then called a female acquaintance, A.R., who picked him and B.M. up. When A.R. arrived, Jefferson demanded that he drive her vehicle, and they returned to the scene of the crash, the complaint says.

Jefferson prevented the others from helping the victim or calling 911. He told A.R. to drive her vehicle away from the scene, and when she was not driving fast enough, he punched her in the face as well, the complaint states.

When Jefferson and B.M. arrived at A.R.’s residence, they took a shower, changed, and Jefferson disposed of their clothes in the garbage. The following morning, Jefferson admitted to A.R. that he hit the victim with his vehicle, according to the complaint.

View the criminal complaint against Jefferson (PDF).