Arrest in December double murder in Dinkytown, gang feud alleged
By Crime Watch MN, March 5, 2024
An arrest has been made in last December’s double shooting murder at a Dinkytown smoke shop, and charges allege both the shooter and the deceased parties had rival gang ties.
Maleek Jabril Conley, 25, of south Minneapolis, Minn., was taken into custody late Monday by the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and is currently being held on $2 million bail.
Conley is charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder in the Dec. 3, 2023 shooting adjacent to the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus.
Charges filed in Hennepin County District Court describe that a verbal and physical altercation began inside the shop located at 403 14th Avenue Southeast after 2 a.m. involving a group of males.
Store employees attempted to break up the fight, but Conley entered the store as the altercation was happening and began firing shots directly at the heads of two males who were both shot multiple times in their heads and necks.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner determined that one of the decedents was shot ten times in the head and neck, and the other was shot four times in the head, shoulder, upper right arm, and abdomen.
Another person who was a store employee was shot in the buttocks, and a fourth person was shot at twice, but the bullets missed and he was not injured.
During the gunfire, a store employee pressed a panic button which locked the gunman and the others in the store. When the gunman realized that he was locked inside the store, he shot the glass out of the door and crawled out of the door’s metal frame. He was followed by four other males.
The complaint states that Conley fled the store with a co-defendant named in the complaint as Taynard Godsey and three other males identified with only initials, one of whom police identified as Conley’s brother. The complaint says that all five are known associates of a south Minneapolis gang known as the “Crazi Boyz.”
The two decedents were known to be associates of the Lowz criminal street gang in north Minneapolis and it’s believed that the murders stem from gang-related rivalries, the complaint said.
The stolen Kia that Conley and the four others fled in following the shooting was later found by police at Godsey’s apartment residence on the 2400 block of Elliot Avenue South. Video surveillance obtained by police showed all five subjects exit the vehicle and enter the building within 15 minutes of the shooting. A search warrant was eventually executed on the apartment after the defendants were gone, and clothing matching that worn by Conley during the shooting was found on site.
Investigators were able to link fingerprint forensic evidence left behind at the store to Conley. Investigators also recovered 9mm casings from the shooting scene and determined that at least 24 rounds had been fired inside the store.
Court records show Conley made his first court appearance on the charges Tuesday afternoon (today) and applied for a public defender.
Co-defendant Godsey does not appear to be in local custody, and the complaint against Conley doesn’t reference what charges Godsey or the other three subjects may face.
Crime Watch will continue to follow developments in the case.
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