25-year-old Charged in Richfield Apartment Killing
BY MN CRIME STAFF
Murder and drug charges have been filed in connection with the fatal shooting of a woman inside a Richfield apartment last Saturday.
Yusuf Ali Salat, 25, is accused of causing the woman’s death without intent while committing a second-degree assault and of possessing fifty grams or more of cocaine or methamphetamine while using or possessing a firearm.
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According to the criminal complaint, the shooting occurred on Dec. 13 inside an apartment building on the 7600 block of Knox Avenue South. Police were called after a resident reported seeing a man dragging what appeared to be a dead or dying woman out of an apartment. Officers entering the building observed apparent blood on the ground and walls in a common hallway and followed blood evidence to an apartment door that also appeared stained.
Inside the apartment, officers reported finding a large amount of apparent blood on the carpet and walls near the entryway. A witness told police she saw Salat carrying a bleeding woman out of the building and told him to stop, but he continued to leave with her.
Investigators later located the Salat driving from the scene after he was seen speeding and running a red light. The vehicle stopped at the entrance to the emergency department at Fairview Southdale Hospital. 23-year-old Sumaya Hassan Mohamed was removed from the back seat and pronounced dead at the hospital. Salat told officers Mohamed had shot herself.
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An autopsy later determined Mohamed suffered a single gunshot wound to the back of her left shoulder, with the bullet traveling through her liver. Her death was ruled a homicide.
Other residents of the apartment described hearing banging and seeing Mohamed unresponsive on the floor before she was dragged up the stairs and placed into a vehicle. During a search of the apartment Salat shared with the victim, officers recovered a Glock 9mm handgun from the snow outside the balcony, along with a 9mm magazine and a spent casing nearby.
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Police also reported finding large quantities of suspected drugs inside the apartment, including multiple packages of marijuana totaling several hundred grams and a rock-like substance weighing more than seventy grams that field-tested positive for cocaine. Additional suspected marijuana was found behind a living room couch and inside kitchen cabinets.
Salat remains in custody. He faces up to 40 years in prison on the second-degree murder charge and up to 30 years in prison on the first-degree drug charge if convicted. Bail was set at $500,000 with conditions that include no contact with the address, no use of drugs or alcohol, random testing, no possession of weapons and compliance with all court appearances.
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