Man charged with murder, assault in shooting at Minneapolis apartment

Prosecutors have charged a man in connection to a shooting at a Minneapolis apartment building this past weekend that killed one woman and seriously hurt another.

Twenty-year-old Calon Markus Hatchett is charged with second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and first-degree assault for a shooting on the 3000 block of East 58th Street.

Minneapolis police were called to the building at around 12:03 a.m. Sunday on a report of a shooting.

Charging documents state that police found 30-year-old Tonia Ariel Powell on the front steps of the building, covered in blood and suffering from multiple apparent gunshot wounds. She was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead just over an hour later.

Inside the building, officers found several discharged cartridge casings outside an apartment and heard a woman inside saying she couldn’t open the door. Officers forced their way inside and found a woman suffering from a gunshot wound, saying, “C-man shot me.”

That woman was also taken to a hospital, underwent surgery and survived, according to court documents.

Afterward, although she could only communicate through written notes, the woman said she knew the shooter because he used to sell drugs at the building. When investigators showed her a picture of Hatchett, a criminal complaint states that she had such an emotional response that the alarms on her medical monitors went off and nurses rushed into the room.

She later said that she and Powell had been watching a movie when Hatchett knocked on their door. After Powell went with him, the woman said she heard arguing and gunshots, and as she went to check on Powell, Hatchett came into the apartment and shot her.

Police found Hatchett downtown on Monday and arrested him. At the time, he had a Glock, which testing later confirmed to be the gun that fired the discharged cartridge casings found at the apartment building.

Hatchett also has two other pending cases for aggravated robbery and one for carrying a gun without a permit.

Murder and attempted murder is each punishable by up to 40 years in prison with a conviction, and first-degree assault carries up to 20 years. Hatchett’s first court appearance was set for Thursday afternoon.