Second gunman in fatal Mall of America shooting pleads guilty

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The second gunman in the Mall of America shooting that killed 19-year-old Johntae Hudson pleaded guilty on Friday. 

Lavon Longstreet, 19, appeared in court Friday for what was intended to be a motion hearing. Longstreet instead pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and second-degree assault for the fatal shooting that took place just before Christmas in 2022. 

The plea agreement would give Longstreet the same sentence as the other gunman, TaeShawn Adams-Wright, who was sentenced to about 30 years on Thursday for his role in the shooting. The plea calls for Longstreet to be sentenced to 397 months for the murder charge and 36 months for the assault charge. Adams-Wright and Longstreet are the two people believed to have shot Hudson during the altercation. 

The shooting took place on Dec. 23, 2022, at Nordstrom in the Mall of America. Two groups were fighting just before 8 p.m. in the store. Officers who responded to the fight found Hudson with multiple gunshot wounds, and he was later pronounced dead at the scene. 

A woman who was shopping nearby with her daughter was also grazed by a bullet during the shooting. The mall went into lockdown but was reopened the next day, but Nordstrom stayed closed. 

Others involved in the fight, including minor teens, were charged with second-degree riot, aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree assault.

Longstreet is set to be sentenced on June 10.