Murder charges were filed Tuesday against a south Minneapolis man suspected of killing his neighbor because of an apparent dispute over a laptop computer.
Nicholas Young, 28, was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder in connection with the death of the 45-year-old victim, who has not yet been identified. He remained jailed on Tuesday in lieu of $500,000, with a preliminary court appearance set for Wednesday afternoon.
Police said they responded to an apartment building at 1918 Park Av. S., just south of downtown, about 3 p.m. Saturday on a report of a medical emergency. Officers found the victim unconscious in the hallway outside of his apartment with injuries from an altercation, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in the case. The victim died at the scene.
Police initially thought that he may have died of a heart attack, but a preliminary autopsy found injuries to his face and head, and the hyoid bone and thyroid cartilage in his throat fractured. A final cause of death hasn't yet been disclosed.
The county Medical Examiner's office will also release the victim's name.
Young was arrested at the scene. Witnesses later told police that he had been acting erratically in the days leading up to the killing, possibly because he was high on methamphetamines, according to the affidavit. Young had a bruised eye and was covered in blood when police arrived, and had reportedly told witnesses that he believed he had killed someone, the affidavit said.
Young later told detectives that the fight was over an unpaid debt from a laptop that Young had sold the victim eight months ago. Young said in the police interview that he had gone to the man's apartment to collect the money, but when he demanded the laptop back the victim punched him, sparking a fight. Young reported that he blacked out. When he came to, he said the victim was lying motionless next to him.
Detectives sought the warrant to take a blood sample from Young, who was treated at Hennepin County Medical Center, to determine whether he still had drugs in his system.
LIBOR JANY
