Man sentenced to 20 years for killing neighbor in Minneapolis apartment

A judge sentenced a Minneapolis man to 20 years in prison for fatally shooting his neighbor last year.

Walter Lee Hill, 59, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder earlier this week in the Nov. 24 death of 60-year-old Donald Edmondson. He received 337 days of credit for time served.

Witnesses to the murder told police that Hill and Edmondson had an ongoing dispute, and Minneapolis police had made contact with Hill a couple of days before the shooting after he said he believed his neighbors were breaking into his apartment through the crawlspace.

According to a criminal complaint, Hill knocked on Edmondson’s door and pulled a gun from the front pocket of his sweatshirt when Edmondson answered. Hill is then seen on surveillance video making a “punching motion” with the gun toward Edmondson’s apartment.

Police found Edmondson shot in the chest in his apartment. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

“Mr. Edmondson should still be alive,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement. “A violent act committed with such disregard by Mr. Hill has taken him from his family. This sentence delivers accountability and protects our community, and I hope it brings some measure of peace to Mr. Edmonson’s loved ones as they attempt to move forward with their lives.”