MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – A 22-year-old man is facing charges for a fatal shooting earlier this month in a north Minneapolis neighborhood. 

Hennepin County prosecutors charged 22-year-old Michael Tiwain Garrett, of Minneapolis, on Friday with one count each of second-degree murder with intent and being an illegible person in possession of a firearm in connection to the fatal shooting of 32-year-old Di’Jon Chase Legore-Banks. 

According to court records, Minneapolis police responded to a shooting on May 16 near the 1100 block of Morgan Avenue North. At the scene, they located Legore-Banks, who had sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Despite life-saving measures, he was pronounced dead at the hospital.  

Charges say Legore-Banks was shot eight times in the head, chest, torso, and legs. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office determined his death as a homicide due to multiple gunshot wounds. 

Charges claim that before the shooting, two women got into a fight over finances, and several other people joined in. Legore-Banks approached one of the women and said something to her when Garrett allegedly got out of his car and began walking toward him while shooting. 

Garrett then fled the scene, and he is believed to have left Minnesota, according to the complaint. 

During the investigation, law enforcement recovered videos of the incident, including a Facebook live video allegedly showing Garrett walking toward the victim while pointing a gun. Another allegedly showed Garrett watching the altercation in his vehicle from a distance prior to the shooting. 

While the criminal complaint did not provide a motive for the shooting, law enforcement said a witness identified Garrett as the son of one of the women initially involved in the fight. 

According to court records, Garrett was prohibited from owning a firearm because of an adjudication for first-degree burglary while he was a juvenile. 

Garrett was charged via warrant and is currently not in custody. 

After a taxing day of snoozing on the couch, sniffing hydrants and lunging at squirrels, my best friend Jenny needed a massage.

The fact that Jenny is a dog wasn’t an obstacle thanks to Heidi Hesse, a Minneapolis resident and owner of Sound Hound Canine Massage.

If anyone could teach me how to rub Jenny the right way, it would be Hesse.

Canine massage isn’t just the latest pet perk. It can help improve flexibility and movement or alleviate joint or muscle pain for a dog suffering from ailments like arthritis. It can boost the immune system and help with healing and reduce scar tissue after surgery, Hesse said. It can even reduce stress or separation anxiety.

“Some dogs just don’t know how to relax,” she said.

Since she started her business in 2016, most of her clients — from dachshunds to Great Pyrenees — have been older dogs, although she once got booked to give a dog a massage as a treat for its fourth birthday.

Unlike many of Hesse’s clients, Jenny doesn’t have a health or behavioral issues that I was trying to fix. I was just interested in keeping my 9-year-old, 40-pound, mixed-breed rescue dog mobile as she ages. I decided to learn some massage techniques that I could practice with Jenny while we’re loafing on the couch watching Netflix.

“There’s a lot more involved than just petting,” said Hesse, a graduate of the Chicago School of Canine Massage and certified with the National Board of Certification for Animal Acupressure and Massage. “It’s a great way to bond with your dog.”

You may not have heard of animal massage, but it’s been around for decades. As with humans, it’s used to help with injuries and promote recovery and performance among athletes — racehorses and dog agility competitors.

The “father of animal massage,” according to Hesse, was sports masseuse Jack Meagher, who massaged pro football players and equestrian competition horses back in the 1970s. He wrote books about preventing injuries to two- and four-footed runners.

Now Hesse, who had a long career as a sound engineer for film and television, offers one-on-one hourlong massages for dogs in their homes ($70 plus tax and possible travel charges). She also has been teaching basic dog massage through Minneapolis Community Education and St. Paul Parks and Recreation.

What it’s like

When she came to my house, Hesse asked about Jenny’s health and history. At 9, my dog isn’t young, but she’s still pretty spry.

Hesse brought a pad that dogs can lie on for a massage, but it was easier to have Jenny stay where she spends most of the day: on the couch.

Hesse started playing “Through a Dog’s Ear” on her phone. It’s a collection of slow, lower-octave piano pieces that are supposed to be particularly calming for canines.

Then, she kneaded Jenny’s pectoral muscles and stroking what she called the “sea of tranquillity” acupoint on her sternum.

“It’s a nice calming point,” Hesse said.

Hesse also stroked the calming “yin tang” acupoint between Jenny’s eyes before moving on to long, slow, circular strokes, cross fiber friction on the sides of the neck, compression on the triceps and biceps, circular friction on the sides of the torso and mild shoulder blade rocking to stretch the trapezius muscles.

“It’s a little tight in the neck, but not significantly so,” Hesse said as she worked.

She used her fingers to vibrate and stimulate Jenny’s hamstrings and pressed on an acupressure point on her ankle.

“This is great for hind end weakness,” Hesse said.

Then she showed me how to do “ear glides,” slow, soothing strokes along the ears that help calm and relax dogs.

We finished up with petrissage — rolling and kneading the skin — which Hesse said is helpful for the fascia connective tissue.

For the most part, Jenny seemed to like her massage. Sometimes she wiggled with pleasure. Sometimes her eyelids drooped like she was about to fall asleep. Other times, she interrupted the massage to sneeze, yawn, lick her groin or give Hesse a kiss. Once she jumped off the couch to give some affection to the photographer.

Afterward, Hesse gave me a report about what she observed in Jenny with information like “Latissimus dorsi (large fan muscle on side of torso) mildly tight with stringy trigger point in the right latissimus dorsi.”

Hesse said Jenny seemed more comfortable than most dogs getting their first massage. In general, I think she just enjoyed the attention.

Hesse said if I wanted to try some massage myself, I should make sure to keep my movements slow and do a little bit at a time, five to 10 minutes every other day to start.

“The more she gets used to the massage, the more she will allow,” Hesse said.

I wouldn’t say Jenny was a changed dog after her first massage. (After Hesse was done, Jenny went right back to napping.) But she did seem to enjoy the special dog treat Hesse gave her for being such a good girl.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – A Minneapolis mother whose final act was to drive her son to the hospital, after both were shot in Minneapolis last weekend, was remembered on Sunday.

The vigil honored the life of 35-year-old Lillian Poalacin Perez.

Perez and her 2-year-old son were shot inside their vehicle in an alleyway off Cedar Avenue South, just north of East Lake Street, on Sunday, May 19. Police are investigating the shooting as a homicide, and working to determine if the mother and son were targeted.

No one has been arrested in the shooting.

Despite being gravely injured in the shooting, Perez drove her son to Children’s Minnesota to get him help. Perez died at Hennepin County Medical Center three days later. Her son is expected to survive.

Sunday evening, a week after Perez and her son were shot, dozens packed into the very same alleyway to remember the mom.

Police told FOX 9 the case is proving to be a difficult investigation. On Sunday night, members of the Latino community urged someone to come forward. Perez was an Ecuadorian immigrant.

“We need more members of the community coming out,” one speaker said. “If you see something, say something. We are here together — estamos aquí juntos. Muy, muy importante contigo vayamos trabajando juntos — so important we need to be working closely together.”