Lavon Longstreet: 17-year-old arrested with mom for Mall of America shooting that left teenager dead
BLOOMINGTON, MINNESOTA: A man was shot and killed inside the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, last month. A 17-year-old boy and his mother were both hauled into jail in connection with the incident on Tuesday, January 17. According to Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges, Lavon Longstreet was taken into custody by US Marshals at a residence in Decatur, Georgia. Longstreet is currently incarcerated on suspicion of second-degree murder and assault. He is waiting for his extradition.
As reported by CBS News, Erica McMillian, Longstreet's mother, was also arrested on Tuesday in Golden Valley, a city in the Minneapolis-St Paul metro area. The mom is suspected of quickly driving Longstreet from Minnesota to Georgia after the shooting. Police Chief Hodges stated that she is being jailed on allegations of aiding and abetting. The police said Eriajah Johnson, 30, was also detained at the Decatur house on counts of aiding and abetting.
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Mall of America shooting: Minnesota police arrest 5 teens after gun rampage that left 19-yr-old dead
On the evening of December 23, a deadly shooting happened on the first level of Nordstrom within the Mall of America. The victim, 19-year-old Johntae Hudson identified by his family, died on the spot. The mall was closed for more than an hour as a result of the incident. According to Police Chief Hodges, surveillance video suggested that the gunshot was caused by "some kind of altercation between two groups" of boys. The next day, on December 24, five individuals were apprehended in a raid in the nearby city of St Louis Park. Hodges stated at the time that three of the suspects were 17-year-old teenagers and two were 18-year-old adults.
On December 29, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office filed charges against 18-year-old Taeshawn Adams-Wright, one of those detained, for second-degree intentional murder and second-degree assault. Charges of the second-degree riot were brought against two of the 17-year-old boys.
The police chief stated on Tuesday that Longstreet and Adams-Wright "stood over" Hudson and "fired multiple rounds into his body." In addition, Hodges stated that "over the last year and a half," forensics had concluded that shell shells collected at the murder scene matched casings discovered at many other crime scenes in Minneapolis and St Paul. "I fully expect that there's probably going to be some more arrests that come out of this," Hodges stated, CBS reports.
US Marshal Thomas Brown said in a statement obtained by Fox 5, "This is another example of guns being placed in the hands of immature young people, resulting in deadly consequences in what was once safe public places. The US Marshals Service will continue to work with our state and local partners to get these guns off the streets and enhance the security of our communities."