First murder in Red Wing, Minnesota in nearly a decade

RED WING, Minn. (KMSP) - Authorities in Red Wing, Minnesota, are investigating after a man was found dead on the sidewalk near downtown just after midnight Tuesday.

At approximately 12:06 a.m., police found a man lying on the sidewalk with a bullet wound on the 400 block of Sanderson Street. He was pronounced dead at the scene. His death is being investigated as a homicide.

Police have identified the victim as D'Angelo Masterjohn, 27, of Red Wing. Masterjohn has reportedly been linked to a gang and has a number of criminal convictions, particularly in his hometown of St. Paul.

Authorities are adding extra patrols in the area to deter retaliation or escalating violence.

A person of interest was taken into custody across the river in Pierce County, Wisconsin.

Masterjohn’s girlfriend, Kelly Byers, said she saw him on Monday night. He left her house to go hang out with friends, and was found a few hours later less than a mile away.

“He was a little guy with the biggest heart,” Byers said. “He’d do anything for anyone. I don’t understand why anyone would take his life. No one should have to die in the street alone.”

The homicide is being investigating by the Red Wing Police Department, the Goodhue County sheriff’s office, the Red Wing Fire Department and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. 

This is the first homicide Red Wing has had in nine years.

Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call the Red Wing Police Department at 651-385-3155 or submit an anonymous tip via crimestoppers.org.