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Man charged with first-degree murder in suspected gang-related tobacco store shooting

Man charged with first-degree murder in suspected gang-related tobacco store shooting

A man from Minneapolis is accused of shooting two men and wounding a third in a Dinkytown tobacconist Last year now faces enhanced criminal charges.

A Hennepin County grand jury returned an indictment against Malik Jabril Conley on 13 felony charges, including counts of first- and second-degree murder, attempted first- and second-degree murder, and second-degree assault.

Conley, 26, faces up to life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder.

The criminal complaint alleges Conley walked into Royal Cigar and Tobacco near the corner of 14th Avenue Southeast and Fourth Street Southeast around 2 a.m. on Dec. 3 and shot two customers and a store employee. By the time Minneapolis police arrived, two of the customers — 24-year-old Bryson Haskell and Jamartre Sanders — were dead.

Video of the shooting shows Conley shooting Haskell and Sanders directly in the head at close range. He fired at a third customer, but missed, hitting a store employee in the back, the statement said.

The employee pressed the panic button, locking everyone in the store, and the video then shows Conley shooting through the glass door and crawling out, according to the complaint. Four other men followed Conley to the getaway car, a stolen Kia, and they drove off.

Conley and others at the Kia were identified as members or associates of the Crazi Boyz street gang, which operates in south Minneapolis. Two of the victims, Haskell and Sanders, were known to be involved with the rival Lowes gang in north Minneapolis.

An arrest warrant was issued for Conley on Dec. 8, and he was taken into custody on March 4, online court records show. He remains in the Hennepin County Jail on $2 million bond.

The jury trial was originally scheduled to begin on November 4, but the court postponed that date. If his court session is scheduled for Friday afternoon, the preliminary session is scheduled for December 9.