St. Paul man charged in fatal shooting of ex-girlfriend's boyfriend at New Year's party in Minneapolis

A St. Paul man has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a 28-year-old man at an after-hours party on New Year's Day in north Minneapolis.

The defendant, 27-year-old Bernard Augusta Mack, was charged Friday with second-degree murder and unlawful weapon possession in Hennepin County District Court. Attorney information for him was not immediately available Friday.

The victim was Deleon Davis, 28, also of St. Paul.

According to the criminal complaint, officers were on the way to the scene when Davis flagged down officers from the passenger seat of a vehicle two blocks south of the reported shooting.

Officers noticed he had a gunshot wound to his chest. He died about five hours later.

Davis' girlfriend told police that Mack was her ex-boyfriend, and that Mack approached them at the party. Mack asked about his windows being broken and accused Davis of breaking them, the girlfriend said.

In a post-arrest statement, Mack admitted to being on the third floor of the building and seeing Davis with a woman he had a previous relationship with. Mack said Davis broke his car windows and that it cost $1,200 to fix. Upon approaching Davis and his girlfriend, security pushed him back, Mack said. Mack alleges someone punched him in the face at some point and that he heard shots fired.

Mack said he did not see the shooter and that he was tackled to the ground. He remains in custody at the Hennepin County Jail.

Mack was not permitted to carry a gun due to a previous conviction for a crime of violence. Mack was convicted in 2021 of being a prohibited person in possession of a gun, and is on probation for it, according to the complaint.

The death was the first reported homicide of 2023 in Minneapolis.