A criminal complaint detailing the investigation into a deadly mass shooting in Minneapolis on Tuesday accuses James Duane Ortley of entering a vehicle and shooting five people inside, with four of the victims having died. 

He wasn’t supposed to have a gun. The 34-year-old had multiple felony convictions over the course of more than a decade. Most recently, he pleaded guilty to second-degree assault. Court documents from 2020 detail how, in that case, Ortley grabbed the victim “and began stabbing him in the back.”

Prosecutors agreed to a lower sentence in exchange for a guilty plea in that case, according to court documents. He was placed on supervised probation for five years in 2021, which would’ve been until 2026. The sentencing order shows that a 39-month prison sentence was stayed for five years.

“It is fairly common in Minnesota to receive a probation sentence for that type of offense,” said Rachel Moran, an associate professor at the University of St. Thomas Law School. “Essentially, what the court was saying was if you stay out of trouble for the period of probation, you won’t have to serve the prison sentence.”

Additional court documents show, however, less than a year later, he was charged with DWI in neighboring Itasca County, which was a probation violation. In August 2023, Judge Peterson still agreed to end his probation early.

“This one caught me slightly by surprise because there had been an allegation of a probation violation one year into the five-year period,” said Moran.

A District Court spokesperson referred 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS back to the court filings when we requested an interview with Judge Peterson to ask about the decision. The documents show the probation officer made the recommendation after all probation conditions were met. A letter from Ortley is also attached, requesting probation be ended early so he could resident with his family who moved to Florda.

“I think this type of situation can, of course, lead to second-guessing and criticizing of what the judge did,” said Moran. “If probation is saying there are no warning signs here, there are a lot of people for whom it’s totally appropriate to discharge early from probation.”

The criminal complaint filed for Tuesday’s deadly shooting in Minneapolis details how, in October 2023, MPD interviewed Ortley in connection to a homicide. During that interview, he’s accused of admitting his street name was “Baby James” and the complaint goes on to say, “Officers are aware that Defendant and additional members of Defendant’s family are associated with the Native Mob, a criminal street gang which operates in South Minneapolis and other areas of Minnesota.”

Hennepin County Jail Roster records show Ortley was in custody as recently as February 17, 2025, but was released without charges just two days later. According to Minneapolis police, he was held as part of the investigation into a crime spree that month, during which a suspect fired at the window of a Minneapolis home, striking the homeowner in the jaw.

Three people were charged for that crime: 19-year-old Quayzhon Demetrius Lewis and two 17-year-olds.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office didn’t respond to our inquiry about why Ortley wasn’t charged in that February case. Documents show, however, one of the teens charged in that case is also the 17-year-old victim that Ortley is accused of killing this week.