Minneapolis, MN
Woman charged with murder, arson for apartment fire that killed 2 in Minneapolis
A woman has been charged in connection with a fire that killed two people in August.
Deonna Marie Presbury, 35, faces two counts of second-degree murder and three counts of first-degree arson.
As previously reported, 59-year-old Debbie Leshelle Allen of New Richmond, Wisconsin, and 66-year-old Kerry Sims of Minneapolis were killed in the apartment fire.
According to a criminal complaint, several people reported a fire at an apartment building at 1501 11th Avenue South in Minneapolis on Aug. 13. Allen and Sims were later found deceased in the building.
Two other people were seriously injured in the fire and needed to be hospitalized.
Arson investigators found two points of origin for the fire. The first was at the rear stairway of the second floor and the other was in the second-floor hallway, originating from a pair of pink rollerblades.
Court documents state that a witness said Presbury was in the hallway of the building with her daughter and was arguing with him before the fire was set. Presbury had demanded that her belongings be returned. The witness said he gave Presbury her items, which included clothing, a bicycle and pink rollerblades.
Another witness in the apartment told police that she heard Presbury say, “I’m gonna burn this [expletive] down…You got me messed up…I’m gonna kill this [expletive].”
The witness said she smelled smoke coming from the hallway a few minutes after Presbury left with her belongings.
The first witness called Presbury on speakerphone while being interviewed by police. When he told her that the fire had killed two people and suggested she was responsible, Presbury reportedly responded, “Love will [expletive] you up anytime.”
A third witness told police that before the fire, he heard a woman arguing in the hallway and threatening to “burn this place down” if she didn’t get her stuff back.
Court documents state that motion-activated security images showed Presbury leaving the apartment with her daughter. Presbury reportedly left behind the pair of pink rollerblades determined to be the point of origin for the second fire.
Presbury and her daughter were then seen walking toward the location of the first fire’s origin, according to court documents. The two are then seen leaving — Presbury reportedly had a lit cigarette and was wearing a blue rubber glove moments before the fire.
Investigators then learned that Presbury is a person of interest in other intentional fires involving the male witness’ property and is known to carry a torch lighter with her. Arson investigators believe the fires at the apartment building could have been started with a torch lighter.
Presbury was arrested and, in an interview with investigators, denied being at the apartment building that day. Police asked again if she was at the building and she promised she wasn’t.
When shown the photos of her and her daughter getting her belongings from the man’s apartment, Presbury admitted to being at the building. She denied speaking to the man about the fire and said she heard about it from the news.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – A man has died after he was shot in Minneapolis Wednesday morning.
Fatal shooting on Chicago Avenue
What we know:
According to Minneapolis police, officers responded around 11 a.m. to reports of a shooting on the 1900 block of Chicago Avenue.
Police say that a man in his 20s was shot outside a building on Chicago Avenue. He was taken to the hospital where he later died.
What we don’t know:
Police did not say what led up to the shooting, and they did not share any suspect details.
Police did not say if any arrests have been made.
The Source: A press release from the Minneapolis Police Department.
Operation Metro Surge cost Minneapolis nearly $700 million in lost wages and business closures, according to an updated assessment city leaders released Wednesday.
The report looked at figures from December 2025 through April 2026. Previously, the city had released data showing that the federal immigration enforcement action cost the city $203 million in January alone.
The Whittier and Central neighborhoods were the most impacted, the analysis says, as those areas reported the most Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity during the surge.
Colonial Market’s Daniel Hernandez said he was selling just 15% of his stock during the surge at his south Minneapolis location. He had only just opened the grocery store in November 2024, and despite a strong start, revenue only declined as community members faced uncertainty about immigration policies. He said he’s forced to shut down his Lake Street location after losing $3 million.
“I might be in the floor right now but I know I’m going to go up again,” said Hernandez. “Because our community deserves a place that cares about them, and that place is us, Colonial Market.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey touted the city’s small business resiliency fund, which last week sent license fee refunds to 1,200 businesses.
“Minneapolis is resilient, we’re compassionate, we’re tough and we have consistently shown grit,” Frey said, while encouraging residents to patron restaurants and stores.
According to new research from North Star Policy Action, the state’s leisure and hospitality industry was the most deeply impacted sector across the state. The sector also represents 8.7% of the state’s workforce and is on average one of the lowest-paid industries, with most employees working paycheck-to-paycheck.
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