2 charged with murder after pregnant woman’s body found in burned RV in Minneapolis

Two people have been charged in the death of a pregnant woman whose body was found in a burned RV in Minneapolis last week.

Shannon Michael Benson, 42, of Minneapolis, and Jade Monet Rissell, 27, are each charged with one count of second-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder of an unborn child.

Minneapolis police responded to a travel trailer recreational vehicle (RV) fire near West 35th Street and Hennepin Avenue South on Nov. 8. After the fire was extinguished, the body of a woman who was seven months pregnant was found.

A criminal complaint states a fire inspector found signs of combustible gas on a mattress and the victim’s body.

A witness told police a woman was seen driving a black Tahoe with the RV attached. The woman asked the witness for a cigarette and, a short time later, the RV was on fire.

Investigators learned the RV had been sold to Benson and Rissell on Sept. 11.

The complaint states those who were close to the victim told police the victim had been reported missing in Anoka between Oct. 29 and Oct. 31. The victim’s boyfriend tried to track the victim using the app, Tile, which tracks lost keys.

On Oct. 31, the app led the boyfriend to the area of Fourth Avenue South and East 25th Street in Minneapolis, where he found the RV and black Tahoe.

Investigators went back to that location and arrested Benson and Rissell.

The complaint states Rissell admitted to lighting the trailer on fire to cover up the victim’s body. She added that she’d lured the victim to the RV a week earlier and assaulted her. After leaving the victim in the RV for a few days, she said she took it to 35th and Hennepin to burn it.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner identified 28-year-old Annysa Marie Zierhut, 28, as the pregnant woman Thursday.

The woman and unborn child’s deaths mark the 85th and 86th homicides of the year in Minneapolis.