Minneapolis Gas Station Slaying Was Over Victim's 'N-word' Slur
Prosecutors have charged a Minneapolis man with murder after he allegedly admitted to shooting a man in the face outside a south side gas station this week because the victim called him the ‘N-word,’ the suspect claims.
Yellow police tape lined the 1700 block of E. Lake St. early Thursday, March, 25, 2021, after a man was fatally shot outside the gas station. PHOTO BY MN CRIME
Chaz Eric Stubblefield, 33, has been charged with 2nd-degree murder for the parking lot slaying of a man in his 40s who has not yet been identified. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
UPDATE: Saint Cloud Man Killed in Lake Street Minneapolis Shooting Identified
Just before midnight Wednesday, March 24, police responded to the Stop N Shop at 1700 E. Lake St. after the report of gunshots and a victim who was down in the parking lot.
Officers arrived and found the victim, identified in charging documents only as "R.D." lying on his back with a pool of blood under his head. He had a gunshot wound to the right eye and officers were not able to regain his pulse. He died a short time later at Hennepin County Medical Center.
A witness told investigators she and the victim were friends and he had come from St. Cloud to help her move. They stopped just before midnight to grab a soda, she told investigators, when R.D. may have brushed past Stubblefield in the store and the two got into a verbal argument.
Yellow police tape lined the 1700 block of E. Lake St. early Thursday, March, 25, 2021, after a man was fatally shot outside the gas station. PHOTO BY MN CRIME
According to the complaint, Stubblefield followed R.D. out of the store and said something to the effect of "don't call me a n---er." R.D. replied that he hadn't said that and Stubblefield spit in his face, the complaint said, before the witness said Stubblefield pulled the trigger and shot R.D.
Chaz Eric Stubblefield. Photo from Hennepin County Jail.
Surveillance video shows R.D. arriving at the gas station at 11:52 p.m. and making slight physical contact with Stubblefield before he punches R.D. in the back and follows him outside. Shortly after, video shows Stubblefield spitting in the victim's face, the victim trying to punch back and Stubblefield raising a handgun, firing once and striking R.D. in the head.
In a post-arrest interview, Stubblefield told investigators that after the slight brush in the gas station, he told the victim "you can say excuse me," to which the victim responded, "f--- you, n---er,” according to the document.
Stubblefield said R.D. used the word again in the parking lot, that he tried to spit on R.D. and that R.D. pushed him. Stubblefield allegedly admitted to shooting the victim, telling investigators he used a .40 caliber handgun, which he later threw in a river.
An autopsy ruled R.D.'s death was due to a gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death was homicide, but his full name has not yet been released by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner.
A booking record for Stubblefield at the Hennepin County Jail shows he was received at the jail shortly after 4 a.m. Friday, March 26, where he remains incarcerated.
Our previous coverage of the incident
UPDATE: Saint Cloud Man Killed in Lake Street Minneapolis Shooting Identified