In the early morning hours of July 7, 2016, a Minneapolis street corner became the final scene in the life of 52-year-old James Jerome Salter. He was found lying on the pavement at the intersection of 5th Avenue South and Lake Street, the victim of a fatal gunshot wound to the chest. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner would later rule his death a homicide.
Salter, a male, was the victim of a senseless act of violence that cut his life short.
The investigation into Salter's death moved swiftly, and just two days later, on July 9, Minneapolis police arrested three individuals in connection with the homicide. The suspects were identified as 50-year-old John Allen Davis, 21-year-old Marshawn Daevon Winston, and 18-year-old Mashawn Leon Moore. All three were booked into the Hennepin County Adult Detention Center on probable cause for murder, setting the stage for the legal proceedings to come.
According to the charges, the tragic encounter was the result of a robbery gone wrong. Davis, Winston, and Moore were reportedly in a car, initially searching for another man with whom they had a dispute. When they were unable to locate their intended target, they turned their attention to Salter, deciding to rob him under the suspicion that he might be carrying drugs. Davis pulled the vehicle alongside Salter, and Moore exited the car armed with a shotgun, demanding Salter's possessions.
The situation escalated quickly and tragically. Believing that Salter was not complying with his demands quickly enough, Mashawn Moore made the fatal decision to shoot him in the chest. During his subsequent guilty plea, Moore admitted to pointing the shotgun at Salter and, after a brief period, pulling the trigger. Moore, who was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder, ultimately pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role as the gunman. Marshawn Winston also pleaded guilty to being an accomplice in the crime and awaited his sentencing. John Davis, the third man involved, had a pretrial hearing scheduled for May 22 of the following year.
