Man found guilty in fatal Crystal stabbing over cousin's 2022 murder
A jury on Tuesday found a 38-year-old man guilty in the stabbing of a man found dead in a car in Crystal, Minnesota, last March.
Larondo Willis was convicted of second-degree intentional murder, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 40 years. His sentencing is scheduled for May 12.
Prosecutors say Willis stabbed 40-year-old Eddie Winters 19 times because he was upset the man did not help a mutual cousin, who was murdered in 2022.
According to the complaint, Winters and Willis met at a barber shop in Minneapolis the evening of March 20, 2024, then left together in Winters' vehicle, along with Winters' son. They dropped the son off at home, then returned a short time later when he couldn't get into the apartment. Willis and Winters again left the apartment together, the complaint said, about 12 hours before Winters was found dead.
A witness parked at Valley Place Park the same night told police a man exited a portable bathroom and approached his vehicle, asking for a ride. The witness refused and the man left the park. Police later found blood on the portable bathroom, the complaint said.
Willis was arrested the next day in connection with an unrelated investigation. Police traced his cellphone's location, finding it had been near Valley Place Park the night before Winters was found dead.
When police arrested Willis, he had a butterfly knife on him, the complaint states. He also had shorts with "a spot of blood like substance on the waistband," it said.
