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City Auditor Finds MPD Failed Allison Lussier and Recommends Formal Apology as Second Review Opens Into Davis Moturi Case

By Clint Combs | Minnesota Spokesman Recorder

A Minneapolis city auditor after-action review found MPD made serious missteps in the Allison Lussier domestic violence case, including never requesting the medical examiner’s report, and recommended a formal written apology to her family for Chief O’Hara’s public misstatements, as a second review opens into the Davis Moturi shooting.

Before Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara knew the full weight of what the city auditor would eventually find, he was talking too fast.

In February 2025, O’Hara told the Star Tribune that investigators could not establish that Allison Lussier had been murdered. “We cannot prove that this is a murder,” O’Hara said. “The fact that he had a history of domestic abuse does not create probable cause.”

The City Auditor’s After-Action Review revealed that the MPD never actually requested the medical examiner’s report until the auditors themselves asked for it while reviewing the case.

O’Hara went further. “Someone dead and decomposed with needles everywhere is not a sign that a crime occurred,” O’Hara said, adding that Lussier had sustained no other known injuries, like a fractured skull.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner found that Lussier’s primary cause of death was a subdural hematoma, a collection of blood between the skull and the brain.

Chief O’Hara’s words, spoken publicly and on record, are at the center of an auditor report that found MPD made several missteps in investigating domestic violence cases. The report recommended that MPD be formally required to issue a written apology to the Lussier family for public misstatements related to the medical examiner’s findings. By the time City Auditor Robert Timmerman gave his report to the Minneapolis committee and City Council members, O’Hara’s tone had finally shifted. “Jen again, I apologize. I’m sorry. We are committed to moving forward together,” O’Hara told Jana Williams, Lussier’s aunt. “I’m thankful again to Jana, to other community members that she invited that were present with us, advocates for their willingness to have conversation with us and to move forward and try and improve things for the future.”

Williams was not mollified.

The audit arrives as MPD faces intense scrutiny over a second high-profile failure. Davis Moturi, a Black Minneapolis man, reported 19 incidents of vandalism, property damage, harassment and threats in the year he had lived next door to his white neighbor, John Herbert Sawchak, many of them laced with racial slurs. Despite those repeated calls for help, Moturi was shot in the neck while pruning a tree in his own yard. The Moturi case prompted a second after-action review by the City Council.

The audits reveal that four officers auditors had hoped to interview were never reached. Three were on extended leaves of absence. One had left the department entirely. City Auditor Timmerman confirmed that when his office reached out to that departing officer, they received a single response: “I’m not going to participate.”

Council Member Aisha Chughtai noted that, to her understanding, the officer who separated from the department did so about one month after O’Hara issued a directive requiring officers to cooperate with auditors. Timmerman said he did not remember the exact date but confirmed his office had attempted contact and been refused.

The audit was further hampered by a jurisdictional wall. Timmerman’s office lacks authority to access Hennepin County Medical Examiner records, meaning auditors could not independently verify the contents of the medical examiner’s report on Lussier’s death.

“Public comments by MPD regarding violence against Native women are heavily scrutinized and should be held to a high standard,” Timmerman said. “We recommend that MPD be required to issue a letter or other statement to the family of Miss Lussier apologizing for public misstatements related to the medical examiner’s findings and report.”

Williams addressed the findings after the presentation. She named Sgt. Michael Heyer as the officer she believed had retired before speaking to auditors, and said Lussier’s lead homicide detective was the one who refused to participate. Timmerman would not confirm the identity or role of the officer who had separated from the department.

“You failed. Allison Lussier’s case you failed. Arionna Buckanaga case, you failed. You failed so many cases prior to this,” Williams said. “Hopefully we start hearing exactly what the gravity of today meant.”

Jana Williams speaks to reporters after City Auditor Robert Timmerman revealed systemic missteps in MPD investigations into the deaths of Allison Lussier and Davis Moturi.

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The audit reported that officers and lieutenants inside MPD expressed low morale over public disagreements between Chief O’Hara and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty. Timmerman said that Moriarty made proactive efforts to communicate with top brass at MPD. Williams said that investigations into her niece were caught in what she described as a “cat-and-mouse game” between O’Hara and Moriarty. “Allison Lussier didn’t deserve this. Nobody deserved this today,” Williams said.

When Chughtai asked the chief’s office whether regular meetings between the chief and the county attorney were taking place, she was told no.

MPD and the HCAO stressed that their branches still maintain working relationships across many departments.

To prevent future audits from hitting the same walls, Timmerman said his office is pursuing subpoena authority from the state legislature, seeking powers parallel to those held by the state auditor and the legislative auditor. Council Member Soren Stevenson flagged that the next police contract negotiation should also address barriers from a collective bargaining agreement that currently prevents civilian investigators from holding supervisory roles.

Vanya Hogen, an attorney with Hogen Adams, detailed the internal pushback that stalled the reports.

“We did face a few limitations, such as early resistance from several MPD officers who requested the involvement of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis,” Hogen said. She noted this “disrupted the anticipated timeline” of the entire review process.

Williams was surprised that the auditor did not secure an interview from the medical examiner.

“You think that the city would have had some more recourse to push them to give an interview or at least a statement,” Williams said. “At least a statement, especially when you’ve got the chief of police blaming the medical examiner for calling off the crime scene.”

O’Hara said the Lussier homicide investigation remains open.

Published: April 26th 2026

MINNEAPOLIS MN: A woman is facing a felony carjacking charge in Hennepin County in connection with an alleged assault and vehicle theft involving two migrant workers on April 19, 2026.

According to the criminal complaint, Brianna Louise King is charged with third-degree carjacking under Minnesota Statute 609.247.4. The charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine.

The complaint states that at approximately 8:45 a.m., Minneapolis police responded to a report of a robbery on Lake Street East in Minneapolis. Officers spoke with the victim, identified as A.R., who reported that he and a friend—both described as migrant workers—were sitting in his vehicle in a parking lot while waiting for potential work.

According to the complaint, King approached the vehicle, entered through the rear driver’s-side door, and asked for money. After initially requesting $2 and then asking for additional money, the victim refused. The complaint alleges that King then punched the victim multiple times.

The complaint states the victim and the witness exited the vehicle and ran from the scene. King allegedly moved into the driver’s seat and drove away in the victim’s black Nissan Altima.

Later that same day, at approximately 5:49 p.m., officers were flagged down by the victim on Lake Street West, who reported that the suspect was nearby. Officers observed a woman matching the description, who briefly ran before being detained near Lake Street West and Pleasant Avenue South.

According to the complaint, the victim positively identified King as the person who took the vehicle and reported that she was wearing boots that had been inside the car.

King was arrested and transported to the Hennepin County Jail. The complaint states she initially denied involvement but later admitted to taking the vehicle and said she parked it on the 3000 block of Pleasant Avenue South. She told officers she had been panhandling prior to the incident and became upset after not receiving additional money. She denied assaulting the victim.

Investigators also reviewed surveillance footage from the parking lot, which the complaint states shows a person matching King’s description entering the vehicle before it was driven away.

All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.