A grand jury has returned first- and second-degree murder indictments stemming from the killing more than a year ago of a 51-year-old man who was found shot and his body stuffed in a garbage bin inside the garage of a vacant Minneapolis home.
Discovery of man fatally shot, stuffed in garbage bin in Minneapolis leads to murder indictment
The body was discovered more than a year ago at a residential property.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
February 3, 2025 at 5:51PM
Miguel Araiza Ugalde, 31, of Minneapolis, remains jailed in lieu of $1.5 million bail in connection with the death of Reid Christopher Johnson, 51, of Burnsville.
A 911 call led to police finding Johnson’s body on Jan. 7, 2024, in the abandoned home’s garage in the 700 block of 30th Avenue N., according to police.
The indictment, filed in July and made public only last week, says Johnson was killed three days earlier.
Because the case was sent directly to a grand jury for consideration of charges, the indictment offers no further details about the killing other than it involved multiple suspects “committing or attempting to commit the crime of aggravated robbery.”
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said no other people have been charged in the case.
Ugalde’s attorney was not immediately available to comment on the indictment. Ugalde is due back in Hennepin County District Court on Feb. 24.
Johnson graduated in 1991 from Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis, according to his obituary.
“He leaves behind a legacy of humor, kindness, love, and a contagious laugh,” his obituary read.
In August, Ugalde was sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison for being among five others who conspired to distribute methamphetamine in Minnesota during several months in 2022.
