Jury finds man guilty of manslaughter in shooting of his former girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend in Minneapolis

A jury has found a man guilty of first-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of his former girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend.

According to a release from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, 39-year-old Derrick Blanton was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter Monday in the shooting death of 29-year-old Isiah Smith on Aug. 18, 2019.

Blanton had been facing second-degree murder charges, but the jury found him guilty of the lesser offense based on certain contributing factors including that Blanton was acting in the ‘heat of passion.’

Man charged with murdering girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend

A criminal complaint states Blanton’s girlfriend, who is Smith’s ex-girlfriend, reported the shooting when she returned home at about 4 p.m. and saw Smith lying outside her apartment surrounded by a pool of blood.

Several witnesses told police they heard multiple gunshots, and that two men and a child ran from the building, got into a black Dodge Charger and sped away, the complaint states. It also said surveillance video shows Blanton as one of the men.

He was arrested a short time later and admitted to shooting Smith after getting into a physical altercation, the attorney’s office said.