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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The New Year’s Eve slaying of a Minneapolis real estate agent may have been part of a murder-for-hire scheme involving a dispute over a recording deal, according to a published report that cited new court documents.
Prosecutors have already charged four people in the death of Monique Baugh, 28, who was lured to a phony home showing, kidnapped and found shot to death in a Minneapolis alley.
But the Star Tribune reported Friday that newly unsealed search warrants reveal a complicated plot involving at least eight people with varying roles. The warrants also show the FBI is involved in the investigation.
A police spokesman said Friday he could not discuss an open case, while the local FBI field office said it could not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation.
Investigators believe Baugh’s boyfriend, Jon Mitchell-Momoh, was the main target of the alleged plot. Less than an hour before Baugh’s death, a masked gunman walked into the couple’s home and shot Mitchell-Momoh, 29, while the couple’s young children were nearby, court records show.
Mitchell-Momoh, who survived, told police he believed he was the target either because he'd been "flashing a lot of money" on social media, or because people thought he was a police cooperator. Investigators also learned Mitchell-Momoh, a local rapper, had a falling out with a former friend over a record deal that Mitchell-Momoh signed, the warrant said.
Court documents show that after the shooting, detectives got a tip that a paid hit had been placed on Mitchell-Momoh by the friend-turned-rival. The rival's status wasn't immediately known Friday.
Cedric Berry, 41, and Berry “Big” Davis, 40, allegedly abducted Baugh and have been charged with second-degree murder. Authorities searched Berry's car after he was arrested at a suburban hotel and found two walkie talkies, a black ski mask, some heroin and duct tape, court records show. Davis is believed to have left the state.
Shante Davis, 38, has been charged with being an accomplice after the fact. Another woman, 28-year-old Elsa Segura, allegedly set up the phony home showing with Baugh and has also been charged, court documents said.
The investigation also revealed a third man may have been with Berry and Davis during the alleged kidnapping. An informant told police the third man was the one who actually shot Baugh, authorities said. That man is in federal custody on unrelated charges and has not been charged in Baugh's death.
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