Shortly before midnight on December 18, 2022, 57-year-old Willie James Hobbs was found with life-threatening injuries inside his home in the 3100 block of Dupont Avenue North in Minneapolis. First responders pronounced Hobbs dead at the scene; an autopsy attributed his death to multiple gunshot wounds and ruled it a homicide.

Officers located 71-year-old Charles Raymond Thomas, Hobbs’ roommate, outside the house with relatives. Thomas told police he was the person who shot Hobbs and said the gun was upstairs. According to the complaint, Thomas later told family members he had “made a mistake” and that he “just snapped.” Witnesses reported hearing arguments between the two men earlier that evening, and the complaint notes a troubled relationship and allegations by Thomas that he had been harassed by Hobbs.

Thomas was booked into the Hennepin County Jail on probable cause for murder and charged with one count of intentional second-degree murder. Did anyone in the neighborhood know about tensions between the two men or hear anything the night of the shooting?