Man, 25, Charged with Murder After Apartment Residents See Him ‘Dragging a Dead Body’

A Minnesota man is facing murder and drug charges after neighbors reported seeing him drag what looked like a dead body from an apartment and load it into a vehicle, according to the Richfield Police Department.

Police said they received “numerous emergency telephone calls” around 3:12 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13, from residents reporting a male “dragging a dead body” out of an apartment and putting it into a car.

In a statement of probable cause, a 911 caller told authorities she saw a man carrying a woman outside. The woman appeared to be bleeding and “already appeared dead,” the document says. The caller said she told the man to stop, but he left the building. When officers arrived, they observed what appeared to be blood splatters on the ground and a wall.

Officers followed what appeared to be blood stains down a hallway to an apartment with apparent blood on the door, the probable-cause statement says. After entering, they found a large amount of apparent blood on the carpet and wall in the entryway.

Police later located the vehicle, which they said was speeding and ran a red light. The car stopped at the emergency department at Fairview Southdale, where the victim was removed from the backseat and pronounced dead. Authorities have not publicly identified the victim, but police said she was a 23-year-old woman.

Investigators also interviewed other residents in the building. One witness told police he heard pounding on his door while he was sleeping. When he opened it, he said he saw a woman lying on the floor who did not respond. The witness reported hearing a man banging on a window, then dragging the woman up the stairs and placing her into a vehicle, according to the probable-cause statement.

The probable-cause statement says the suspect, identified as 25-year-old Yusuf Ali Salat, claimed the victim shot herself. However, an autopsy determined she was shot once in the back of her shoulder, and the bullet traveled through her liver, the document says.

Investigators recovered a Glock 9mm handgun in the snow outside the apartment balcony where Salat and the victim lived, according to the probable-cause statement. A 9mm magazine was found in a trash bag on the balcony, and a casing was recovered nearby, police said.

Salat is charged with second-degree murder—without intent while committing a felony—and first-degree possession of 50 grams or more of cocaine or methamphetamine after drugs were allegedly found in the apartment, according to the court document.

Police said they recovered multiple packages of suspected marijuana and a rock-like substance that field-tested positive for cocaine from areas including kitchen cabinets and behind a living room couch, the probable-cause statement says.

Salat’s bail is set at $500,000, and his next court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 17, according to his booking record.