2nd Minneapolis man charged in April homicide

A second man has been charged via warrant in connection to a fatal shooting this spring in Minneapolis.

Wednesday, 34-year-old Brian Pierre Swearegene was charged with second-degree murder and illegal possession of a gun or ammunition.

His charges are in connection to the April 2 death of 28-year-old Darrell Lamont Sims II, for which 30-year-old Dajohn Cortez Ramon Yarborough has also been charged with murder.

Police found Sims critically injured from a gunshot wound to his chest near the intersection of 24th Street and Elliot Avenue South. He was taken to a hospital but later died from his injuries.

Security footage showed Sims walking up to the front doors of his apartment just before 10 p.m. that night and look down at his phone for about 10 seconds. Yarborough was then seen on video walking up and firing shots at Sims, who started to run away but collapsed south of the building.

According to a criminal complaint, investigators found additional security footage that showed another man — Swearegene — walking up to the home with Yarborough, both with guns clearly visible in their right hands.

Earlier this month, investigators made contact with Swearegene, who allegedly admitted to being shown on the security footage, the complaint states. The complaint adds that Swearegene said the shooting of Sims was related to the death of an associate who was killed a couple weeks earlier in the same area.

Swearegene told investigators he wasn’t sure who killed his associate but assumed it was “someone in the area,” the complaint states.

As of Wednesday, neither Swearegene nor Yarborough is in custody, according to jail records.