On April 26, 2018, Dwayne Hawkins, Jr., a 29-year-old resident of Minneapolis, MN, was tragically killed in a drive-by shooting. The incident occurred just after 5 a.m. on the 1900 block of Newton Avenue North. Officers responded to a ShotSpotter activation and found Hawkins with gunshot wounds to his head and neck. He was transported to North Memorial Medical Center, where he later succumbed to his injuries.
The investigation revealed that the suspect, Willie B.
Brown, Jr., aged 35, had been involved in an altercation earlier in the week. Brown had propositioned a woman at a home on the 2900 block of Sheridan Avenue North, leading to a confrontation with several men who intervened on her behalf. Brown left the scene but returned either late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning to confront the men again. Hawkins arrived at the scene and broke up the argument, after which he and Brown drove away together.
During the drive, Brown shot Hawkins multiple times in the face and neck, leaving his body on Newton Avenue. Following the shooting, Brown returned to the Sheridan Avenue residence and fired several shots at the house. Police, while investigating Hawkins' death, found the vehicle in which Hawkins and Brown had left the home. The interior of the car was covered in blood. Officers arrested Brown shortly after in the neighborhood and recovered two handguns that matched the ammunition found at the scenes of the shootings.
Brown was charged with second-degree murder, drive-by shooting, and second-degree assault. Surveillance footage showed Brown dumping bloody clothes at a car wash in Brooklyn Park between the two shootings. He was found guilty by a jury on November 5, 2018, and faced sentencing on December 12, where he could receive up to 386 months in prison for the murder charge alone.
