Minneapolis man pleads not guilty to charges in girlfriend's shooting death
MINNEAPOLIS — A 51-year-old Minneapolis man pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges stemming from the shooting death of his girlfriend.
Johnny Brown is facing two counts of second-degree murder and one count each of first-degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm for the on Dec. 17, 2023.
According to the criminal complaint, Brown called 911, saying he and his girlfriend had gotten into a fight, and his girlfriend had pulled a gun, which had gone off. He thought she was dead, and provided the street address before hanging up. He called again 20 minutes later to reiterate the events, and said he was ready to turn himself in.
Officers forced entry into the locked apartment on the 4200 block of Sheridan Avenue South where they found Moore.
While investigators were at the scene, a family member arrived at the apartment and told police that Brown had called them to say, "I f***ed up, I killed your cousin. I turned myself in."
Brown was arrested the next day during a traffic stop. His new girlfriend was in the car with him, charges state.
Court documents say Brown told investigators he and Moore had gotten into an argument on the day of the shooting over him cheating. When he left the room to get a drink and came back, Moore was allegedly pointing a gun at him.
Brown added that he was able to take the gun away, but accidentally bumped the trigger, which resulted in Moore getting shot in the head. Charging documents note, however, that the type of gun requires a trigger pull of at least 5 pounds.
He said his memory of the incident was "foggy" because of how much alcohol he drank.
Brown has a prior felony offense going back to 2007, during which he illegally possessed a firearm which he shot in the air during a disagreement a former girlfriend. He served 110 months in prison.
A jury trial for Brown is scheduled to begin on Jan. 27.
Domestic Violence Resources: For anonymous, confidential help, people can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-787-3224.