Minneapolis man charged in shooting death of St. Cloud man

Minneapolis man was charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of a St. Cloud man in a convenience store parking lot, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced Monday.

Chaz Stubblefield, 33, was charged Friday in the March 24 fatal shooting of 46-year-old Ryan Decker. Stubblefield made his first court appearance Friday and bail was set at $1 million without conditions or $700,000 with conditions.

According to the criminal complaint, the surveillance camera at the Stop N Shop at 1700 East Lake Street showed Stubblefield making a purchase at 11:51 p.m. on March 24. About 90 seconds later, Decker entered the store with a friend of his and was told by the security guard that he needed a face mask to enter.

Decker turned to leave and the camera showed that as he passed Stubblefield, Decker slightly made contact with him. Stubblefield turned and punched Decker in the back and the two exchanged words, the complaint states.

As Decker was about to get into the passenger side of a car, Stubblefield caught up to him, confronted him and spat at him. Decker threw a punch and then Stubblefield pulled out a gun and fired one shot into Decker’s head, according to the complaint.

Stubblefield told police that he shot Decker because when he bumped into him, Stubblefield told him to excuse himself, the complaint states. He said Decker used a racial epithet instead and used it again in the parking lot before he was shot.

The woman told police he had come from St. Cloud to help her move. She said Decker told Stubblefield that he had not called him a racial name, according to the complaint.

Decker was taken by ambulance to the Hennepin Healthcare emergency room where he was pronounced dead about 40 minutes after the shooting.

View the criminal complaint against Stubblefield (PDF).