35-year sentence for fatal shooting in dispute over $20 at Minneapolis encampment

A man has received a term topping 35 years for fatally shooting another man at a south Minneapolis homeless encampment in a dispute over $20.

Kenneth J. McKinnis, 38, was sentenced Thursday in Hennepin County District Court after a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder in connection with the death of 37-year-old Curtis Johnson on Sept. 26.

With credit for time in jail since his arrest, McKinnis is expected to serve the first 23¼ of his 35½-year term in prison and the balance on supervised release.

“We want to thank the people who had been living in the encampment for their bravery in testifying against Mr. McKinnis,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a post-sentencing statement. “Unhoused people may have to overcome struggles with mental health, substance use, lack of transportation and mistrust in the system just to show up to testify. People across our entire office worked closely to provide the necessary support.”

McKinnis has a long criminal history with convictions for theft, assault and disorderly conduct.

According to the criminal complaint:

Police officers responded to a small tent encampment in the 2400 block of S. 16th Avenue around 1 p.m. and found Johnson with a gunshot wound to the chest. He died 40 minutes later at HCMC.

Witnesses told investigators that McKinnis came to the encampment the day before and got in a heated argument with Johnson over $20. One witness recalled hearing McKinnis promise to return and shoot Johnson if he didn’t come up with the cash.

The next day, bystanders reported seeing McKinnis beeline for Johnson’s tent with a gun in his waistband and a glove on his hand. After a brief exchange of words, a shot was fired, and McKinnis ran off.

Surveillance video captured a stolen pickup truck arriving at the encampment just before the shooting and a passenger exiting the car wearing red. The same man was seen entering Johnson’s tent, then running back to the truck seconds after the gunshot.

Police found the abandoned truck in a Brooklyn Center parking lot the next day. They later identified the vehicle’s driver via surveillance video. He told authorities that he agreed to give McKinnis a ride to the encampment that day but said he stayed in the truck and never heard a gunshot. The driver alleged that McKinnis came running back to the vehicle saying something like, “Let’s go!”

Star Tribune staff writers Liz Sawyer and Jeff Day contributed to this report.