Eddie Winters Death – The charges filed on Thursday have revealed a potential motive for the murder of a man discovered deceased in a vehicle in Crystal earlier this month, along with the method of his demise. Larondo Willis, aged 37, is accused by prosecutors of stabbing the man 19 times due to his anger over the man’s failure to assist a mutual cousin who was killed in 2022. Willis faces a charge of second-degree murder, as per a criminal complaint.
The victim, identified as 40-year-old Eddie Winters by a medical examiner, was found dead in a car at 32nd and Hampshire avenues, close to Valley Place Park, on March 21.
As per the complaint, Winters and a man he referred to as his “cousin” – later identified as Willis – met at a barber shop in Minneapolis on the evening of March 20. They then departed together in Winters’ vehicle, accompanied by Winters’ son. After dropping the son off at home, they returned shortly thereafter when he was unable to enter the apartment. Willis and Winters left the apartment together once again, the complaint stated, approximately 12 hours before Winters was discovered deceased.
Willis was taken into custody on March 21 in connection with an unrelated investigation. Police tracked the location of his cellphone, determining that it had been in the vicinity of Valley Place Park the night before Winters was found dead. It also pinged near the Robbinsdale Metro Transit station, with surveillance footage showing Willis at that location that night.
A witness who was parked at Valley Place Park on March 20 informed the police that a man emerged from a portable bathroom and approached his vehicle, requesting a ride. The witness declined, and the man left the park. Subsequently, blood was discovered on the portable bathroom, according to the complaint.
Upon Willis’ arrest, he was found to be in possession of a butterfly knife, as per the complaint. Additionally, he was wearing shorts with “a spot of blood-like substance on the waistband,” the complaint mentioned. Several family members informed the police that Willis and Winters shared a mutual cousin who was killed in 2022.
“Family members indicated that [Winters] was present during the cousin’s murder but chose to flee to protect himself instead of aiding him,” the complaint stated. “Family members mentioned that this…