Federal charges link fatal Dinkytown tobacco shop, Uptown shootings to Minneapolis gang rivalry

A federal grand jury this week indicted an alleged Lows gang member linked to a deadly rivalry that was allegedly behind a series of shootings in separate Minneapolis neighborhoods that left three dead on a single evening late last year.

Agents first arrested Ramone Dizahn Jackson about a week after early morning shootings on Dec. 3 at a Dinkytown tobacco shop and in an Uptown parking lot, respectively, killed three people whom federal authorities have since identified as fellow members of the Lows street gang.

Jackson, who has remained in federal custody in Sherburne County jail since his arrest, now faces a new indictment charging him with five counts of fentanyl distribution in addition to using a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. He’s also being charged as a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and with possessing a machine gun.

According to charges, Jackson was arrested as part of an ongoing federal probe into Minneapolis street gangs such as the Lows and their rival Highs. A message was left seeking comment from his attorney. Both gangs operate largely out of north Minneapolis. Prosecutors said the Highs primarily do business north of W. Broadway, with the Lows’ territory to the south.

Jackson was present as a man identified as a fellow Lows “member or associate” was shot in the head on Dec. 3 by a person firing from a passing vehicle as a group of alleged Lows members were in an Uptown parking lot. According to a sworn affidavit from an agent for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), video footage of the incident captured Jackson discharging a firearm of his own during the incident. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner later identified the deceased as Ty’Shawn Maurice Lyons, 20, of Rochester.

Around the same time that shooting took place, Bryson Lamarr Haskell and Jamartre Michael Sanders, both 24 and from Minneapolis, were shot dead after a brawl inside Royal Cigar & Tobacco at 14th Avenue and 4th Street SE. Court filings in Jackson’s case now identify the deceased as members of the Lows gang.

Maleek Jabril Conley, a 25-year-old Minneapolis man arrested recently in Chicago, has since been extradited to Minneapolis to face murder charges in that case. The whereabouts of a co-defendant remain unknown. Conley made a first court appearance Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court where his bail was set at $2 million.

According to the federal charges against Jackson, he was shot while in a vehicle in St. Paul on Nov. 13 where officers recovered nearly 40 casings of two different caliber guns at the scene.

Jackson told police that he was alone in the car at the time of the shooting and did not know who fired at him.

Weeks later, two separate confidential informants told law enforcement that Jackson was involved in a shootout outside a Brooklyn Park apartment complex that involved about 50 rounds. According to charges, at least one automatic weapon was involved in the shooting and one informant told officers that Jackson admitted to firing an automatic weapon during the incident. Jackson described it as a shootout between members of the Highs and Lows, the informant said.

Agents also learned from an informant that Jackson regularly armed himself with a firearm, sometimes outfitted with a machine gun conversion device commonly referred to as a switch or auto sear. An informant also noted that Jackson had access to multiple such devices, which are illegal to possess without special registration.

Jackson called 911 to report the shooting of Lyons on Dec. 3 but attempted to leave the scene as police arrived, according to charges. Officers impounded Jackson’s car and later found three rounds of ammunition.

Before Jackson’s arrest, agents searched his home under a federal warrant and found clothing Jackson was seen wearing during the shooting, as well as about $20,000 in cash and nearly 600 grams of marijuana. Law enforcement also found but did not seize a money counter and “narcotics scale,” according to charges.

The new multiple fentanyl charges are tied to separate dates in October and November, and he is being charged with carrying and using a Glock Model 19 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol on Nov. 20 “during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.”