Man, 42, charged with murder in Minneapolis assault
A 42-year-old Minneapolis man is accused of assaulting two men, one of whom died three days after the incident, according to charges filed in Hennepin County.
Coby Levan Richardson is charged with one count each of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, threats of violence and fifth-degree assault, court documents say.
According to the criminal complaint, Minneapolis police officers responded to the report of an assault at a business on the 2500 block of Lyndale Avenue South around 12:20 p.m. on Feb. 15.
Responding officers found a man on his back in a parking lot. He was taken to the hospital to be treated for a skull fracture with brain bleeding and a cut on his face, but died from injuries three days later, court documents say. An autopsy is pending.
Another man told police at the scene he had been punched in the face by Richardson. The man allegedly said he was friends with the man who died, and they were at the business together.
"The men recognized Defendant from a prior conflict that occurred weeks earlier," the criminal complaint said.
The man talking with officers also said Richardson recognized them and threatened to kill them.
Court documents say surveillance video shows Richardson then punched both men in the face, and one of the men fell backward on the cement sidewalk and hit his head. The man who fell backward never regained consciousness.
A witness told police he was inside a vehicle during the assault. He identified Richardson from a six-person lineup as the person who committed the assaults, according to court documents. The witness was friends with the man who died and is allegedly the brother of the man who spoke with police after getting punched in the face.
During the prior conflict, according to the criminal complaint, Richardson walked up to the witness and his brother at a bar demanding they buy him a drink, but they refused. Several people who were with Richardson at the bar allegedly made trigger-pulling motions with their fingers while looking at the brothers, who later left the bar.
Richardson was arrested on Wednesday.