Murder charge: Man strangled brother, 7, in family's Eden Prairie home

A man with a history of violence and mental illness was charged Friday in the killing of his 7-year-old brother inside the family's Eden Prairie home earlier this week.

Dalal Idd, 28, faces one count of second-degree murder in Hennepin County District Court and remained in custody ahead of his first court appearance Monday. He was arrested Tuesday after surrendering to police who were responding to the house on a welfare check.

Idd made a series of 911 calls, according to newly filed charges, saying he had mental health issues and he didn't know what he did, then later saying that he hurt someone. Charges say that he told dispatch operators that what he did was "for the greater good" and that "God told me to do something to prove that I'm not God."

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office on Thursday identified the boy as Abdullahi Gelle.

According to the criminal complaint:

Officers arrived following Idd's calls and found two children sleeping in their beds at the family's house in the 9900 block of Lee Drive. A third child, Abdullahi, was found unconscious and not breathing.

The boy had petechial hemorrhages around his eyes and he was declared dead at the hospital after officers performed life-saving measures at the home.

Idd told police that he was afraid his mother might want to kill him because of what he had done. Officers took Idd to the hospital for evaluation before he was booked into jail.

During the autopsy of Abdullahi, doctors observed petechial hemorrhaging in many places on his upper body including his eye, face and back. This is often seen in cases of strangulation and nothing found in the autopsy was inconsistent with that finding.

Idd has previous convictions for first-degree assault and aggravated robbery.

At the time of the boy's death this week, Idd was under supervision with the Hennepin County Department of Community Corrections stemming from his conviction in 2015 for assault and robbery of a Life Time fitness member in an Eden Prairie locker room.

Idd unleashed a similar attack on a resident in a randomly chosen home in the city about an hour later. Both crimes occurred while he was under the influence of methamphetamine, court documents revealed.

He was given an 8½-year sentence, left prison in late 2022 and put on supervised release.

Idd has been under court-ordered civil commitment in the past and was under the guardianship of his sister from early 2020 until January, the records disclosed.

Court records show Idd is the brother of 23-year-old Dolal Idd, who was shot to death in December 2020 at a south Minneapolis gas station by police during a sting operation. Another brother, Mohamed Amin Idd, 29, is serving a 15-year prison sentence for second-degree murder.

The Dakota County Attorney's Office later said the officers were justified in shooting him because he disobeyed police orders and fired at them first.

Star Tribune staff writer Paul Walsh contributed to this story.