In the late hours of August 24, 2020, a seemingly friendly meeting in a Columbia Heights strip mall parking lot took a tragic turn, ending the life of 22-year-old Charles Ray Mosby Jr.. An African American man from Anoka, Mosby was a father to two children, Isabella Katherine-Marie Brown and Chanze Raymond Mosby. His death left a void in the lives of his parents, Tamika Thompson and Charles Mosby Sr., and a wide circle of family and friends who remembered him as a loving and goofy
individual.
That night, at approximately 10:30 p.m., Mosby met with three men: 19-year-old Dominic Sampson, 22-year-old Brandon Kron, and 21-year-old Cashmere Smith, in the 4600 block of Central Avenue NE. Surveillance footage from the area showed what appeared to be an "amicable" encounter between the men. The video captured the three suspects handling a gun, passing it amongst themselves before Mosby's arrival. At one point, Kron handed the gun to Sampson. As Mosby turned to leave the gathering, Sampson pulled the gun from his pants and shot him multiple times in the back at close range. There was no apparent conflict visible on the surveillance footage leading up to the shooting.
First responders found Mosby with several gunshot wounds and transported him to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. The three suspects fled the scene in two separate vehicles. An investigation was immediately launched, and within days, the Anoka County Attorney's Office filed charges against the three men. Kron was arrested the day after the shooting, while warrants were issued for the arrests of Sampson and Smith, who were considered public safety and flight risks.
Ultimately, all three men were brought to justice for their roles in Mosby's death. Dominic Sampson, the shooter, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Cashmere Smith pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree murder and received a 10-year prison sentence. Brandon Kron pleaded guilty to aiding an offender and was sentenced to over three years in prison. The convictions brought a close to the legal chapter of a senseless act of violence that cut short a young man's life.
