Man indicted on 1st-degree murder charges in suspected gang-related tobacco shop shooting

A Minneapolis man accused of fatally shooting two men and injuring a third in a Dinkytown tobacco shop last year is now facing elevated criminal charges.

A Hennepin County grand jury has returned an indictment against Maleek Jabril Conley on 13 criminal charges, including counts of first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree attempted murder, and second-degree assault.

Conley, 26, faces a life sentence if convicted of first-degree murder.

A criminal complaint alleges Conley walked into Royal Cigar and Tobacco near the corner of 14th Avenue Southeast and Fourth Street Southeast around 2 a.m. on Dec. 3 and shot two customers and a store employee. By the time Minneapolis police arrived, the two customers — 24-year-olds Bryson Haskell and Jamartre Sanders — had died.

Video of the shooting showed Conley shoot directly at Haskell and Sanders’ heads from short range. He shot at a third customer but missed, hitting the store employee in the rear, the complaint states.

The employee hit a panic button, locking everyone inside the store, and video then shows Conley shooting out the glass door and crawling out, according to the complaint. Four other males followed Conley to a getaway car, a stolen Kia, and they drove away.

Conley and the others in the Kia were identified as members or associates of the “Crazi Boyz” street gang, which operates out of south Minneapolis. The two victims, Haskell and Sanders, were known to be involved with the rival “Lowz” gang in north Minneapolis.

A warrant for Conley’s arrest was issued on Dec. 8, and he was brought into custody on March 4, online court records show. He remains at the Hennepin County Jail on $2 million bail.

A jury trial was originally set to begin on Nov. 4, but the court pushed that date back. While he has a court hearing scheduled for Friday afternoon, a pretrial hearing is set for Dec. 9.