41-year-old convicted in triple homicide at Minneapolis encampment

A 41-year-old was found guilty in the murders of Christopher Martell Washington, Louis Mitchell Lemons, Jr., and Samantha Jo Moss at a homeless encampment in Minneapolis, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.

According to a criminal complaint, Earl Bennett rode an e-bike to a tent in the encampment in October 2024, asked to see one of the victims inside and began shooting shortly after being allowed inside. Surveillance video showed him leaving the tent and riding away on his e-bike.

Washington and Lemons were declared dead at the scene, and Moss died at the hospital a week later.

RELATED: Woman dies nearly a week after triple shooting at Minneapolis encampment; suspect charged

Bennett is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 16 in this case, the attorney’s office said.

Other cases

Bennett is also a defendant in two other cases.

He was shot by law enforcement after pointing a gun at officers in St. Paul days after the murders.

Officers later learned Bennett had shot and critically injured a man earlier in the evening at a sober living home on the 3500 block of Columbus Avenue South.

The gun Bennett pointed at officers in St. Paul matched the casings found at both the encampment and sober living home shootings.

RELATED: SPPD releases bodycam of officers shooting and injuring man charged in encampment triple homicide | Man seriously injured in Minneapolis shooting, suspect not in custody

These cases both remain open.
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