A Minneapolis love story
By Crime Watch MN, Dec. 27, 2023
A Minneapolis man is facing a murder charge months after another man was found dead inside his downtown Minneapolis apartment in the Loring Park neighborhood from an apparent drug overdose.
Delwayne Wesley Center, 40, was arrested and briefly jailed following the May 12 incident in which he reported to police that morning that a friend who had stayed over was not breathing, as Crime Watch reported at the time based on dispatch audio.
Court records show that Center was charged by warrant earlier this month with one felony count of third-degree murder for unintentionally causing the death of the victim, identified as 47-year-old Daniel Joseph Aldridge, by giving or administering a controlled substance.
Charges say that Center told police the two met on a dating app and subsequently met at Center’s apartment about 1 p.m. the day prior on May 11. Center said that Aldridge told him he lived at a “sober house.”
The two proceeded to engage in sexual activity including bondage.
Center said he injected Aldridge with a syringe full of methamphetamine while he was tied up as part of the “role play.” Aldridge began thrashing around and trying to free himself from the bondage, but Center kept him tied up.
After a period of time, Center injected Aldridge again with another dose of methamphetamine, after which Aldridge began having a “concerning reaction.”
Center told police he got mad because Aldridge “could not handle his drugs,” so he left Aldridge tied up while gurgling and vomiting on the floor and went to bed without checking on him.
The next morning, Center noticed Aldridge appeared to be in rigor mortis, but sat down to watch TV for a while before cleaning the apartment and flushing the drugs.
Center left the apartment to purchase cigarettes and said when he returned, the apartment was starting to smell. Center panicked because he believed he would get in trouble for buying drugs. He also indicated that he believed victim was going to help pay for the drugs.
According to the medical examiner’s report, Aldridge died from “homicide by acute methamphetamine intoxication.”
Center was arrested on the murder warrant on Tuesday of this week and made his first court appearance Wednesday afternoon.
Center was granted a public defender and remains in custody in Hennepin County Jail on $500,000 bail. His next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 24, 2024.
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