A bright summer morning in Minneapolis took a tragic turn on June 30, 2016, ending the life of Mario Martell McGee, a 27-year-old Black/African American man from St. Paul. Just after 8 a.m., the sound of gunfire shattered the peace near the intersection of East 24th Street and South Oakland Avenue. When police responded to calls from concerned neighbors, they discovered McGee lying unresponsive in the road.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, and the Hennepin County Medical Examiner later determined the cause of death to be a single gunshot wound to the back.
The events leading to McGee's death began to unfold inside a nearby apartment. According to the subsequent investigation, McGee had gone to the residence of an ex-girlfriend, where several other people were present, including Daquan Bradley. An altercation erupted, and McGee was reportedly beaten in a hallway before he managed to break free and flee the building. As McGee ran from the apartment, a single shot was fired. Witnesses reported seeing McGee collapse in the street after being struck by the bullet. One person also stated they heard a window opening moments before the shot rang out.
In the days that followed, the investigation progressed quickly. Police identified 26-year-old Daquan Bradley of Brooklyn Park as the primary suspect. He was arrested at his home, where authorities also recovered a 9 mm handgun. Bradley was subsequently charged with second-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The criminal complaint noted that Bradley had previous convictions that prohibited him from legally owning a handgun.
