Man charged with second-degree murder in south Minneapolis alley shooting
A 29-year-old man is accused of fatally shooting another man in a south Minneapolis alley in August, according to court records filed Monday.
Keshaun Schelven Coatie of Minneapolis is charged with one count of second-degree murder in connection with the Aug. 7 shooting.
According to the criminal complaint filed Monday in Hennepin County, officers responded to reports of a shooting in the alley south of East Franklin Avenue that runs between Third Avenue South and Clinton Avenue South. They found a man lying next to his car who had suffered gunshot wounds to the torso and pelvis. He died at the scene.
Surveillance footage showed another car, a Dodge Charger, parked near the alley minutes before the shooting. A passenger is seen leaving the Charger and entering an apartment building. Soon after, the driver — later identified as Coatie — and another passenger exit the car and stand by the trunk, the complaint states.
About three minutes later, footage shows "brake lights appear" in the alley, and Coatie and the passenger "jog toward the victim's vehicle while holding their waistbands," according to the criminal complaint. They are out of the camera's view for about 30 seconds, during which the city's Shotspotter systems detected gunfire.
The two men then run back to the Charger, and Coatie's seen putting something in the trunk before they drive off. Court documents state a license plate reader detected the Charger in the area before and after the shooting.
Police say Coatie was flagged as someone who knew the victim, and officers spotted him the next day with the Charger. Five days later, police tracked down the Charger and its actual owner, who told investigators he loaned it to Coatie while he was going into rehab "shortly before" the shooting, the complaint states. Coatie's fingerprint was found on the Charger's trunk, and investigators detected his DNA inside the vehicle.
Court documents state investigators discovered Coatie had another cellphone number which he gave to his "conditional release officer" since he is also charged with illegal possession of a firearm and third-degree drug sale in an unrelated case.
The phone's data shows it was turned off for about 40 minutes "surrounding the homicide," the complaint states, but "its known locations and uses coincide with the Dodge Charger's movement at relevant times as captured by city surveillance" and license plate readers.
Police eventually spoke with Coatie on Sept. 17, and he claimed he borrowed the Charger for a couple of days to "make a trip to Chicago." His phone data, however, showed he went there about five days after the shooting.
"[Coatie] made several other demonstrably false statements during his interview," police note in the criminal complaint.
Court documents state Coatie has a previous conviction for second-degree assault and "is known to be involved in significant narcotics sales and has ties out of state."
Coatie remains in custody as of Monday, according to court documents. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison.
