In the early hours of a Wednesday in Minneapolis, the life of 28-year-old Miguel Viveros Morales of Chicago was cut short. On September 30, 2020, he was found in an alley in the 3500 block of North Bryant Avenue, having sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the chest. Emergency services responded to a ShotSpotter alert, and upon arrival, found Viveros Morales wounded.
He was quickly transported by ambulance to a local hospital, but he was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival.
The investigation into the death of the male victim led Minneapolis police to a nearby house in the same block. Behind the residence, officers discovered a car with an open door and no one inside. As they approached a door to the house, they were met by Derelle K. Todd, who was uncooperative before being taken into custody.
Inside the home, on a bed that the 30-year-old Todd shared with his girlfriend, investigators found a gun with a live round. Forensic analysis later determined that this was the weapon used to fire the cartridge casing found near Miguel Viveros Morales's body. Although a suspect was apprehended, a motive for the killing was not immediately clear from the charging documents.
Derelle K. Todd of Minneapolis was subsequently charged in Hennepin County District Court with second-degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm. This was not his first encounter with the law, as he had a significant criminal history in Minnesota. His past convictions included multiple counts of burglary, drug possession, robbery, weapons possession, and theft.
