Hearing delayed for murder suspect charged in fatal police chase crash in Brooklyn Center

A court hearing Monday for the man charged in a crash that killed a 6-year-old girl while fleeing police in Brooklyn Center was delayed until Tuesday afternoon.

The girl died when a car driven by murder suspect Hakeem W. Muhammad, 28, of Minneapolis collided with a car Friday at N. 53rd and Humboldt avenues, the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office said.

The girl, identified by the Sheriff's Office as Blessings U McLaurin Grey, was among five people in the second car. Lanayshona Bell-King, 15, required hospitalization. Seen at a hospital and released were April A. McHerron, 32, Marrayah Billberry, 9, and Naledege D. Billberry, 5, the Sheriff's Office said.

Muhammad was charged July 11 in Hennepin County District Court with second-degree murder and illegal weapons possession in the fatal shooting of Devan Dampier on April 7 in north Minneapolis.

Muhammad was due in court Monday afternoon, but the hearing was moved to Tuesday because he remained hospitalized with injuries suffered in the crash. Court records did not list an attorney for him.

Police found Dampier, of Minneapolis, on the ground in the 1100 block of N. 21st Avenue, about a block north of West Broadway.

"Damn, bro, you shot me," the criminal complaint quotes Dampier saying. He soon died at North Memorial Health Hospital.

Muhammad was upset with Dampier for accusing him of being a snitch, according to the charges.

Muhammad's criminal history in Minnesota includes two convictions for first-degree robbery.

Friday's pursuit began about 4:20 p.m., when police were alerted to Muhammad's location. They initially tried stopping his vehicle using a tire deflating device, but that failed.

A fleeing Muhammad sped through a stop sign and collided with the second car. The vehicle flipped over in the crash, and first responders had to extricate its passengers. Muhammad's car started to smoke as he was arrested.

Terri Foss, 49, said she rushed to the scene after Dampier's fiancée told her about social media posts of Muhammad and the police chase. Foss said Muhammad was a close friend of her son for several years.

"I don't know who was going to be out here [at the crash scene], but just thinking of the other family that he's now affected," Foss said last week, tearing up.

Star Tribune intern Katelyn Vue contributed to this story.