A 39-year-old woman was charged Wednesday with a fatal stabbing in downtown Minneapolis over the weekend while authorities were looking to arrest her for disobeying court orders in connection with a violent robbery.
Woman, 39, charged in fatal stabbing in downtown Minneapolis
Police said the stabbing followed an argument among people known to each other.
May 30, 2019 at 2:40AM
Shermeika Franklin, of Minneapolis, was charged in Hennepin County District Court with second-degree murder in connection with the killing of Mesheka Willis, 42, who was stabbed in the chest about 9:30 p.m. Saturday in the 900 block of Hawthorne Avenue at the bus depot one block off the Hennepin Avenue theater district.
Franklin, whose address on the charging document is the Salvation Army's Harbor Light homeless shelter downtown, remains jailed ahead of a court appearance scheduled for Thursday.
Willis had recently graduated from a sober living program and was working as a hairstylist, said her cousin Valencia Jenkins. Willis had one adult son.
Panhandling, street harassment and drunken fights in that part of downtown have led the city to increase patrols by police officers and ambassadors from the Minneapolis Downtown Improvement District.
Franklin pleaded guilty last month to being one of several homeless people carrying out a violent robbery about 1 a.m. on March 18 of a man waiting for a bus in the 900 block of Hennepin Avenue S.
A warrant was out for her arrest at the time of the killing. Her criminal history in Minnesota includes numerous convictions for theft and two for trespassing.
On Monday, the Joint Beats program began its 13th year of increased law enforcement visibility downtown by city and transit police and the Sheriff's Office.
The program runs through Labor Day "as a way to enhance real and perceived safety during the summer months," the Minneapolis Downtown Council announced Tuesday.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
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