MINNEAPOLIS — A 24-year-old Twin Cities man is facing murder charges for fatally shooting a man in April following a fight inside a bar in Minneapolis’ Uptown neighborhood.
Leontawan Holt, of Fridley, is charged with second-degree murder in the April 23 shooting of 30-year-old Rayshawn Brown, of St. Paul, court documents filed in Hennepin County show.
According to a criminal complaint, the shooting happened shortly before midnight outside Williams Pub and Peanut Bar, near the busy intersection of Lagoon and Hennepin avenues, a location known for nightlife and, in the last two years, shootings.
Moments before shots rang out, Holt and Brown were both inside the bar, where Holt allegedly punched another bar patron in the face, starting a brawl.
After the brief melee, surveillance video outside the bar showed Holt and Brown passing each other on the sidewalk with their respective groups. As the groups got close to each other, Brown tried to pull something out of his pocket, but not before Holt raised a gun and fired several times.
Brown tired to run away, but collapsed, the video shows. Holt fled the scene.
A nurse who happened to be in the area stopped to help Brown, applying pressure to the gunshot wound on his chest, the complaint states. Yet, paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. He had been carrying a gun.
Investigators say that Holt fled in a car that was stolen from a relative. He was later arrested on a gun charge in violation of his parole.
According to prosecutors, Holt has a lengthy criminal history, including aggravated robbery and weapons convictions. His bail was set at $750,000.
If convicted of the murder charge, he faces up to 40 years in prison. Holt also faces one count of felony gun possession in connection to the fatal shooting.
Earlier this year, Williams Pub and Peanut Bar closed for a period of time in the wake of a different shooting that left a man injured. It wasn’t the first time a bar on that block closed in response to gun violence. In 2020, Cowboy Slims shuttered after a mass shooting left 11 people hurt and one person dead.
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