By Crime Watch MN
MINNEAPOLIS – A Minneapolis man is facing charges of murder and attempted murder after two women were shot early Sunday morning, July 23, one of them fatally, at an apartment building in south Minneapolis.
Calon Markus Hatchett, 20, has been charged with second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, and first-degree assault in the shooting that left 30-year-old Tonia Powell dead on Sunday and her girlfriend hospitalized with serious injuries.
Court records show that Hatchett was wanted on three warrants at the time of the shootings in two felony carjacking cases and a gross misdemeanor illegal gun possession case, all stemming from incidents last September.
Police were dispatched just after midnight Sunday to an apartment building on the 3100 block of East 58th Street on a report of a shooting. When they arrived, they found one female shot outside in front of the building and, after forcing entry into an apartment, police found another female inside who had been shot. Police noted that spent bullet casings were found inside the apartment.
Dispatch audio at the time indicated that a dark or gray Chrysler 300 had been seen leaving the area as police arrived.
The Minneapolis Police Department issued a press release later on Sunday stating that one woman, later identified as Powell, had died as a result of her injuries. The statement said the other woman, who has since publicly identified herself as Heaven Lacy, sustained life-threatening injuries.
The criminal complaint states that Hatchett was located in downtown Minneapolis on Monday and was found with a 10mm Glock handgun in a backpack. The Minneapolis Crime Lab determined that the shell casings that were left at the shooting scene had been fired from the gun in Hatchett’s possession.
The complaint states that the victim who survived the shooting told police that “‘C-man’ shot me.” Investigators researched other cases and learned that “C-Man” is Hatchett. When investigators interviewed the surviving victim at HCMC, she could only communicate through written notes due to her injuries. She communicated to police that she knew the shooter because he used to sell drugs in the apartment building. Investigators showed the victim a photograph of Hatchett, and the victim gave an emotional response that caused the alarms on her medical monitoring equipment to go off and nurses to rush into the room.
On Tuesday, investigators conducted a full interview with the surviving victim who stated that she and Powell had been watching a movie when Hatchett knocked on their door. Powell then went to smoke weed with Hatchett, the complaint states. The victim who had remained in the apartment then heard them arguing and heard gunshots. As the victim inside the apartment went to check on Powell, she told police that Hatchett had suddenly entered her apartment and shot her before fleeing the scene.
In a Facebook post, Lacy (Heather Lynn on Facebook), stated that after being shot, “I then had to be strong enough with a bullet hole through my lung to lock my front door and call 911 give them my addresss [sic] tell them about tonia and then I collapsed.” According to the Facebook post, Lacy has toddler children who were not in the residence at the time of the shooting.
No motive for the shootings is listed in the complaint.
Hatchett had failed to appear in court in the carjacking cases in June and the gun possession case in April and warrants had been issued for his arrest. Hatchett had previously posted a $50,000 bond in one carjacking case and had been conditionally released with no bail required in the other carjacking case, according to court records.
Hatchett made his first court appearance on the new charges on Thursday and is being held on $2 million bail. Another hearing is scheduled for August 3.
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
This article originally appeared at Alpha News and was reprinted with permission.
