A Minneapolis man accused of being a member of the Native Mob has been charged with second-degree intentional murder after DNA evidence, surveillance footage and jailhouse calls allegedly linked him to a fatal shooting in 2025.
Shawn Edward Bellanger, 24, is accused of killing 33-year-old Lamont Agnew near East 29th Street and Clinton Avenue South, close to the Midtown Greenway, shortly before midnight on April 27 last year.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County, officers found Agnew suffering from gunshot wounds to his left hip and chest. He was taken to hospital, where he later died.
Surveillance footage allegedly showed Agnew walking with a suitcase before Bellanger and another man approached him. Investigators say Bellanger fired an AR-style rifle at the victim, handed the weapon to his companion, and then took it back after the second man had also fired.
The two men are accused of leaving the scene on foot with the suitcase. The second suspect has not been identified in the complaint and it is unclear whether he has been charged.
DNA evidence and jailhouse calls
A significant development in the investigation came on August 17, 2025, when police responding to a domestic assault report at a property on Portland Avenue recovered a firearm about six blocks from the homicide scene.
Court documents say testing linked the weapon to cartridge cases found after the shooting. Swabs taken from the rifle reportedly contained a major male DNA profile matching Bellanger, while a witness familiar with him later identified him in the surveillance footage.
Investigators also allege that Bellanger made “implicit or tacit” admissions about the killing during telephone calls from jail. In one call, he is said to have expressed concern about DNA and ballistics testing of the weapon.
A search of the Portland Avenue property allegedly uncovered ammunition and a rifle stock, while officers found a blue hoodie similar to the one worn by a suspect in the footage at another address.
Bellanger was charged by warrant on September 21, 2026. A judge set bail at $1 million, according to court records.
He had been released on June 8 this year to an electronic home-monitoring programme in connection with separate charges. He was not listed as being in custody when the murder charge was filed, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
The allegations have not been tested in court.
