Man Sentenced to 35 Years for Fatal Minneapolis Shooting

Aug 25

A man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for the 2024 shooting death of 55-year-old Carl Woodard in north Minneapolis.

Dameon Markese Collins, 24, pleaded guilty in June 2025 to second-degree intentional murder and admitted to firing 23 shots at Woodard on June 28, 2024.

> Sign up for the MN CRIME newsletter

According to court records, the shooting happened around 10:51 p.m. on the 3500 block of Penn Avenue North. Investigators found Woodard unresponsive in the driver’s seat of a car that had been struck by at least 13 bullets. He was pronounced dead a short time later. Officers recovered 23 shell casings from behind a fence that lined up with the passenger side of Woodard’s vehicle. Surveillance video showed Collins leaving a white Chevy Tahoe, walking into the alley, and then firing from the fenced area before running back to the vehicle and driving away.

Collins was indicted by a Hennepin County Grand Jury on charges of first-degree premeditated murder and second-degree intentional murder. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss the first-degree count in exchange for a guilty plea to second-degree murder, with both sides supporting an aggravated 420-month sentence.

READ MORE > Minneapolis coverage

On Monday, Aug. 25, a judge sentenced Collins to 420 months in prison, an aggravated durational departure from the presumptive sentence under the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines. He received credit for 405 days already served in custody.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the outcome was appropriate given the level of violence involved:

“Carl should still be with his family, but Mr. Collins’ extreme act of violence took that away,” Moriarty said in a statement. “While nothing prosecutors can do will fill the void in his family’s hearts, this is an appropriate prison sentence to protect the community from Mr. Collins.”

Authorities confirmed that Collins did not have a permit to carry a firearm at the time of the shooting. He also faces a separate federal indictment alleging possession of a firearm in furtherance of fentanyl trafficking, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and conspiracy to distribute fentanyl. Those federal proceedings are ongoing.

> See more of our latest coverage