Johnny Leroy Brown (Hennepin County Jail) and the scene outside of the apartment where he allegedly killed his girlfriend (KSTP/YouTube)
A 50-year-old man was arrested in Minnesota this week for allegedly shooting and killing his girlfriend of two years after she accused him of cheating, only to be arrested the next day while he was with his new girlfriend.
Johnny Leroy Brown was taken into custody on Monday and charged with multiple counts of murder in the slaying of 43-year-old Kesha Latrice Moore, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Brown was charged with one count of murder, one count of second-degree murder — with intent, one count of second-degree murder while committing a felony, and one count of possessing a firearm after a felony conviction.
According to a news release from the Minneapolis Police Department, officers from the 5th Precinct responded at 8:20 p.m. on Dec. 17 to a reported shooting at an apartment complex in the 4200 block of Sheridan Avenue South.
Once there, first responders found a woman, later identified as Moore, in her apartment suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. She was declared dead at the scene.
Authorities said the shooting appeared to be the result of a domestic-related incident between the woman and her live-in partner, who authorities later identified as Brown.
Police said they tracked down Brown the following day and took him into custody at about 8:50 p.m. on Dec. 18 after conducting a traffic stop near Douglas Drive North and St. Croix Avenue North in Golden Valley, Minnesota.
At the time of his arrest, Brown was in the car with his new girlfriend, a probable cause affidavit obtained by St. Paul, Minnesota ABC affiliate KSTP reportedly states. After being processed and booked into the Hennepin County Jail, Brown reportedly called his new girlfriend and denied ever being in a romantic relationship with Moore.
According to the affidavit, Brown told police he and Moore had been dating for about two years and had been living together in her apartment for several months before the shooting.
Brown reportedly said on Sunday, he and Moore got into a heated argument because Moore believed that Brown was cheating on her. During the argument, Brown claimed that Moore shoved her finger into his face.
According to the affidavit, Brown claimed he went to make himself a drink, and Moore pulled out a 9 mm handgun — which police said was registered to her — and pointed it at him. Brown reportedly said he tried to wrestle the gun away from Moore, but he ended up accidentally hitting the trigger, firing the fatal shot.
The Star Tribune reported that investigators doubted the claim because Moore’s weapon, a Luger EC9s, has a trigger that requires more than five pounds of pull. Investigators also said that Brown claimed he did not touch Moore’s body after she was shot, a claim they say is undercut by large smears of blood that surrounded her body.
The Tribune also reported that Brown had been convicted of unlawful gun possession in 2007 and, in 2015, was caught trying to escape custody. He had also previously been convicted of second-degree assault, theft, and several drug offenses and has been the subject of six protection orders in the last 20 years.
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