Minneapolis, MN – On Oct. 14, after a little more than four hours of deliberations, a Hennepin County jury convicted 31-year-old Stephanie Clark of intentional second-degree murder.
Clark, of Maple Grove, was charged in March 2020 for fatally shooting her boyfriend in their apartment.
According to the criminal complaint, on March 5, just before 6:00 p.m., police went to an apartment located at 6262 Madga Drive in Maple Grove on the report of a shooting.
There, officers met with a witness, who informed them that she heard loud bangs from an apartment nearby, and shortly after, heard someone knocking on her door. Clark was outside the witness’ door with her five-year-old son, and said, “He’s dead,” the complaint continues.
When the witness attempted to console Clark, she said, “I shot him because he hit me.”
Police then entered Apartment A at 6262 Madga Drive, and smelled both gunpowder and marijuana. After searching the apartment, officers found Clark’s boyfriend in a bedroom with what looked like a gunshot wound to the head, surrounded by a pool of blood, the complaint continues.
Officers also found five guns in the apartment, and noted a half-eaten sandwich on a children’s plate on the kitchen table. Investigators concluded that Clark’s five-year-old child had been present at the time of the shooting, the complaint states.
A medical examination determined that Clark’s boyfriend had been shot multiple times, in his back, side and back of head.
Once Clark was in-custody, she said that he had hit her, and they found bruises on her left side and mid-back, the complaint states.
In a post-Miranda interview, Clark told investigators that her boyfriend and she got into a fight, and he punched her in the stomach and back. Clark then left to pick her son up, and when she returned, the argument continued, the complaint says. Clark’s boyfriend walked into a bedroom while she followed him, carrying a 22 double-barrel action revolver. He eventually turned to face her and she then shot him in the chest.
Once the 22 double-barrel action revolver ran out of bullets, Clark picked up a 380 revolver and shot him in the head while he was on the ground. She did this as she, “wanted him to stop talking.” She proceeded to shot him in the head at least once more, the complaint states.
A sentencing date has been scheduled for Nov. 18 at 9:00 a.m. at which time the State will ask for a top of the box sentence of 367 months in prison. The Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines range for intentional-second degree murder is between 261 and 367 months, with a presumptive sentence of 306 months.
