Minneapolis Man Sentenced for 2021 Inver Grove Heights Homicide
A Minneapolis man has been sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after a minimum 30 years for fatally shooting a man in the head and leaving his body in a snowbank late January 31, 2021 in Inver Grove Heights.
Gabriel Alfonso Sanchez Cruz, 44, had been found guilty by a Dakota County jury of 2nd-degree murder and 1st-degree murder while committing aggravated robbery.
The victim, 38-year-old Bryant Jon Lutgens, of Burnsville, was found dead in the snowbank around 8 a.m. the next morning.
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Inver Grove Heights police officers were dispatched to the 1300 block of 60th St. W. after a 911 caller reported discovering a deceased male’s body. The man, subsequently identified as Lutgens, appeared to have died of a gunshot wound to the head.
There were no vehicles in the area and Lutgens did not have identification or a cell phone on him. Officers spotted tire tracks leading away from the area and an autopsy later conducted confirmed that Lutgens died of a single gunshot wound to the head.
Officers spoke to a friend of Lutgens who reported seeing him around 10 p.m. on January 31, 2021 when he visited a home in Bloomington. He left about a half-hour later and said he needed to go pick up some money, according to court documents, and was driving a Jeep at the time, later determined to be a rental vehicle.
The friend didn’t see Lutgens again after that and received no response the next day when she called him to wish him a happy birthday.
Officers were unable to locate the rental vehicle, but made contact with the rental company and on February 3, 2021 were told the rental company used its tracking system and found the vehicle in Minneapolis.
Minneapolis police found the rented Jeep, attempted to stop it and pursued the driver, who threw a gun out of the window. The gun—a 9mm semi-automatic—was later recovered by officers and matched the caliber used to kill Lutgens.
The fleeing driver eventually crashed and three occupants attempted to flee on foot, including the driver who was later identified as Cruz.
During the same time Minneapolis police were apprehending Cruz, officers in Inver Grove Heights received information from another person who said they had last seen Lutgens on January 31, 2021, at approximately 9 p.m. when he dropped her off at Cruz’s apartment in Richfield.
Cruz was not home at the time. The witness also said that at around 11:45 p.m. on January 31, Cruz returned to his apartment with another individual in his own vehicle.
The witness said Cruz was acting “off,” and was talking very fast. When asked what was wrong, Cruz told the witness that he had shot Lutgens.
When asked what he meant, Cruz said that when he met up with Lutgens, he had pulled out a gun and was going to rob Lutgens. When a struggle ensued after Cruz reportedly tried to take Lutgens’ backpack, the victim fell backwards into a snowbank.
Cruz then walked up to Lutgens, shot him in the head, took his belongings and fled.
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