Man enters plea deal in 2020 deadly shooting on Metro Transit bus
Malcolm James Lessley (Hennepin County Sheriff's Office)
A man accused of fatally shooting one man and injuring another on a Metro Transit bus in downtown Minneapolis two years ago has filed to plead guilty in the case.
Malcolm James Lessley, 29, is charged with one count each of second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder in connection with the killing of 51-year-old Tommie McCoy.
In a document filed Thursday in Hennepin County District Court, Lessley agreed to plead guilty to both counts. The petition states he would be sentenced to over 26 years (320 months) in prison for the second-degree murder charge, with a nearly 17-year (203 months) sentence for the second-degree murder charge to be served concurrently.
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Prosecutors say officers responded to a reported shooting the night of Feb. 6 inside Ramp A at First Avenue and Ninth Street. Dispatchers told police the shooting happened aboard a Metro Transit C-Line bus and that a victim was shot in the face.
Emergency personnel found McCoy lying on the ground in a pool of blood. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Another man who had been shot in the face was taken to the hospital in critical condition, a criminal complaint states.
Police tracked down Lessley a few blocks away and arrested him. He matched the description witnesses gave to police and he had a 9mm handgun in his waistband.
Lessley’s sentencing is scheduled for June 21.