Two men were charged Thursday in connection with last week’s killing of a Hugo man outside a Cub Foods in Fridley.
Johnson Kenny Sirleaf, 32, of Plymouth, faces one count of second-degree intentional murder in the killing of 27-year-old Devon Michael Adams, who was shot in the chest in the store’s parking lot at Interstate 694 and University Avenue shortly after 11 a.m. March 9.
Anoka County prosecutors have also charged Blanyon Toe Davies, 29, of Brooklyn Park, with felony aiding an offender.
According to the charges, Adams’ girlfriend told police at the shooting scene that he had been staying at an Extended Stay next to the Cub Foods the past several weeks. She said she last saw him around 10 a.m. in his truck at the hotel.
A witness reported hearing arguing and a “pop,” then seeing a man fall to the ground and a red SUV fleeing the area. The witness said there was one person in the SUV. The witness also reportedly saw the same SUV behind the hotel two days prior, and gave detectives a description of the driver.
Surveillance video in the area shows a burgundy 2013 Buick Encore SUV make a quick turn onto 57th Avenue Northeast, drive straight to the store’s parking lot and pull in front of Adams’ truck. The SUV appears to be preventing the truck from leaving or moving.
Law enforcement canvassed the area and located the SUV at an apartment building parking lot in the 6000 block of Main Street, just north of the Cub Foods. Video surveillance shows the SUV leaving the shooting and heading straight to the apartment parking lot.
Video surveillance from the apartment building shows the SUV pull into the lot a few minutes after the shooting. After about 20 minutes, Davies pulls up in his white Ford F‐250 and picks up the SUV driver, who was identified as Sirleaf.
Cell phone records show Davies and Sirleaf had been in contact right before and after the shooting. Sirleaf’s cell phone records put him at the shooting, the charges said.
Detectives also learned that Sirleaf had been staying in a room at the Extended Stay that was rented by Davies.
Sirleaf has the same Plymouth address as 19-year-old Augustus Matthew Sirleaf Jr., who is charged in the November shooting death of 17-year-old Yasseen Thomas Johnson during the sale of a pair of high-end shoes in a Plymouth parking lot. It was unclear Thursday whether Augustus and Johnson Sirleaf are related.
Both Johnson Sirleaf and Davies remained held at the Anoka County Jail Thursday on $2 million bail.
