MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A 20-year-old Minneapolis man has pleaded guilty to killing a man during an August 2012 robbery, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.
Darrius Davantae Parkman specifically pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for killing Michael Jones Jr., 30, of Minneapolis. A robbery charge was dropped as part of the guilty plea.
According to the criminal complaint, Parkman met Jones on a bus and started talking to him. Not long after, they met in the hallway of an apartment building at 2201 Fifth Ave. S. Parkman then pulled out a gun and tried to rob Jones, but shot him when Jones tried to take the gun away.
Jones died at the Hennepin County Medical Center about an hour after being shot in the common hallway of an apartment building in the 2200 block of 5th Avenue South.
Investigators suspected Parkman in the homicide after reviewing Jones’ cellphone records. They then learned that Parkman had fled to Chicago and that officers there arrested him in early September for an unrelated Minneapolis robbery case.
Police say when investigators interviewed Parkman he admitted that he intended to rob Jones on Aug. 18 during a drug deal. However, he said a struggle ensued and it ended with him shooting Jones.
Parker could face more than 28 years in prison for his crime. He will be sentenced on Jan. 29.
