Minneapolis man, 86, was allegedly killed over shunning fellow Somali

The man accused of beating his elderly neighbor to death said he did so because he was being ostracized by the Somali community, according to murder charges filed Monday.

Bashir Yusuf Jama, 63, of Minneapolis is charged with second-degree intentional murder in the Oct. 8 beating death of 86-year-old Jama Adan Mohamed, whose body was found in his Elliot Park apartment by his daughter that afternoon.

According to the charges, Mohamed’s body was found under a blanket with what appeared to be several cuts to his head and chest. The Hennepin County medical examiner determined that he died of skull and brain injuries.

Police reviewed security cameras from the building in the 1200 block of S. 8th Street and they showed Mohamed entered the building at 12:22 p.m. and a suspect identified as Jama followed about 10 minutes later.

The footage showed Jama wearing a heavy coat and stocking hat despite the 78-degree temperature that day. About 30 minutes later, footage showed him leaving the apartment with both hands tucked inside his jacket sleeves as if he is hiding something, the complaint said.

Mohamed’s family members said they were acquainted with Jama, who lived in a nearby apartment building. Another witness noted that he had been acting strangely and went missing immediately after Mohamed was killed.

Police searched Jama’s apartment on Sunday, where they found clothes he appeared to have been wearing the day of the killing, some of which appeared to have blood on it. He was arrested and in an interview initially denied killing Mohamed, but later admitted to doing so, the charges said.

Jama told police that he felt Mohamed was spearheading an effort to push him out of the community, and when he went to confront Mohamed, he struck him several times over the head with a piece of metal construction material, the charges said.

He then grabbed Mohamed’s cellphone and threw it away with the weapon. The complaint says he led police to where he threw out the cellphone, which was recovered. The weapon was not.

Jama remains in the Hennepin County jail in lieu of $1 million bail. His first court appearance was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

startribune.com