20-year-old charged in 3rd separate murder since 2021

A 20-year-old man has been charged in a third murder case.

Albert Jerome Lucas faces one count of second-degree murder (aid and abet) and two counts of attempted second-degree murder in a complaint filed Wednesday for a Nov. 6 murder.

He also faces charges for a murder in February and a murder in 2021.

The case in the 2021 murder was initially dismissed, but Lucas was recharged and re-certified as an adult in May.

As previously reported, Minneapolis officers responded to a report of a shooting at the intersection of North 33rd Avenue and Dupont Avenue North on Nov. 6. There, they found Antonio Vernon Harper, 20, suffering from gunshot wounds — he was later pronounced deceased.

According to a criminal complaint, surveillance video showed the suspect vehicle being a blue Toyota Camry. Surveillance video showed one shooter shooting from the alley and two shooters shooting from the sidewalk.

Crime scene personnel determined that three different 9mm handguns were found at the scene. One of the firearms was found to have been used at a crime scene on Nicollet Avenue on Oct. 28, 2023. A witness said the gun was sold to Lucas shortly after the Oct. 28 shooting, court documents state.

Another witness said she saw three men against the side of a building and looking toward the three victims at the Nov. 6 shooting. The three men got into the Toyota Camry and drove toward the victims before the shooting started.

One of the victims said he and two friends were walking when they saw three men get out of a blue sedan and one started shooting. The three victims started running toward a backyard and the other two men started shooting at them.

He said Harper had been shot at that point but he and the other victim kept running. Another victim told police the only reason the shooting would have happened would be “gang-related,” court documents state.

Police later found the Camry and a cigar wrapper inside had DNA that came back as a match for Lucas.

Another witness told police that Lucas’ co-defendant, Jahon Lynch, Facetimed him and that Lucas was on the call admitting to shooting and killing someone. Court documents state Lucas was bragging about killing someone from “the Tre Tre Crip” gang.