Charges: Attempted burglary led to Bloomington, Minn. homicide

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (KMSP) - Three of the six suspects arrested in last Thursday’s homicide in Bloomington, Minnesota have now been charged with second degree murder.

According to the charges, the group had allegedly only planned to rob and scare the victim, but one of them ended up shooting him. The shooter has not yet been charged. 

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner identified the victim as 19-year-old Corey Elder of Bloomington.

Police were called to Hampshire Hill Apartments on 6800 block of West Old Shakopee Road around 10:45 p.m. on a report of a shooting. When they arrived, they were let in by a woman who lived at the apartment with Elder. Elder was found in the bedroom dead of a gunshot wound to the head and the neck. 

Six people have now been arrested in connection with the murder. Megan Cater, 19, and Briana Martinson, 20, Maurice Verser, 33, and Noah Peterson, 20, were booked on Saturday. Alec Price Streit, 19, and Tarrance Fontaine Murphy, 20, were arrested on Sunday.

Cater, Peterson, and Martinson have been charged with two counts of second degree murder, one count of burglary and one count of second degree assault. 

According to the charges, the six suspects had arranged to burglarize the apartment and steal from the victims. Some of the suspects wanted to steal drugs and one person wanted to take back a gaming system he said Elder had stolen from him. The suspects reportedly intended to scare the two and “rough up” Elder.

The other victim told police some of the suspects were “regular customers” of Elder’s and often purchased illegal drugs from him.

All six suspects arrived at the building that night. Two of the suspects waited outside in the car while the other four went into the apartment and physically assaulted and pistol whipped Elder. They also confronted the other victim and pointed a gun at her head.

The suspects ransacked the apartment searching for drugs. At point, one of the suspects dragged Elder into the bedroom and shot him in the neck. All six suspects then fled the building.

Bloomington Police is continuing to ask anyone with information about the incident to call their non-emergency number at 952-563-4900.