Minnesota
One convicted of aiding murder in Morton, Minnesota, woman's overdose death
OLIVIA
— One of the three men criminally charged in connection to the overdose death of a
Morton,
Minnesota, woman last fall has pleaded guilty and will serve prison time.
Daniel Ortiz, 31, of
St. Paul,
pleaded guilty in June to aiding and abetting murder in the third degree. According to the plea petition filed in Renville County District Court, Ortiz agreed to provide truthful testimony in the trials of co-defendants Joshua Lee Hill, of Shakopee, and Eugene Damario Tate, of Minneapolis.
In exchange for his plea, attorneys agreed Ortiz would be sentenced to a downward durational departure of 36 months in prison. According to the departure report filed by the judge, the crime was less onerous than usual — Ortiz did not actually sell the drugs to the woman — and the prosecutor and family of the woman were in agreement with the lesser sentence.
Lead prosecutor Kelsie Kingstrom noted for the record that the Renville County Attorney’s Office had numerous conversations with the woman’s family and that they had no objection to the recommendation, according to a court transcript.
Judge Thomas Van Hon sentenced Ortiz on Sept. 11 to 36 months of prison with credit for 133 days served. Ortiz is currently incarcerated at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud. According to the Minnesota Department of Corrections, he is expected to be released on May 4, 2026.
Contributed / Minnesota Department of Corrections
According to the criminal complaint, law enforcement responded Oct. 25, 2023, to a residence in Morton on the report of an unresponsive female. A sheriff’s deputy arrived but determined the female to be deceased. A piece of tinfoil with black residue, a metal pipe and lighter were also located nearby.
A family member of the woman spoke with law enforcement later the same day. According to the complaint, the family member reported they had found additional drug paraphernalia, including a folded piece of paper that contained a white substance, which later field tested presumptive positive for fentanyl.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid drug approved for prescription use as a pain reliever and anesthetic. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, it is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin as a pain relieve.
According to the criminal complaint, the woman had a history of drug use and had recently relapsed. Another witness told police that she and a second witness had recently driven the woman to the Minneapolis area to pick up drugs days before she was found unresponsive.
At the plea hearing on June 24, 2024, Ortiz admitted to helping facilitate a drug sale between the woman and Tate, who allegedly sold the fentanyl found in the woman’s residence.
According to the court transcript, the woman had contacted Ortiz stating she wanted to buy fentanyl. Ortiz then contacted Tate, whom he knew by another name, and acted as the main line of communication between the woman and Tate to arrange a drug purchase.
The complaint states that the woman had initially reached out to Hill to arrange a drug purchase. Hill then contacted Ortiz once she said she was seeking to purchase two grams of fentanyl.
Ortiz also stated that he was present when the drug purchase in Minneapolis occurred. Ortiz said he was going to be the person to give the fentanyl to the woman, but Tate had changed his mind. Ortiz said Tate decided to do the sale himself after the woman had texted Ortiz that she had arrived at the agreed upon location.
An autopsy report from the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office determined the woman’s death was caused by toxic effects of fentanyl. Drug toxicology results from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension found the substance located in the woman’s room was confirmed to be fentanyl, weighing about 1.24 grams.
Criminal proceedings are continuing against the other two suspects.
Hill is also charged with aiding and abetting third-degree murder. He was booked into the Renville County Jail on March 17, 2024, and has remained in custody since his arrest. Bail was set at $500,000 without conditions or $250,000 with conditions that include GPS monitoring.
Court records show his next pretrial date has been set for April 10, 2025.
Tate is charged with third-degree murder via selling/distributing controlled substances. He posted a $100,000 bond in March and was released with conditions, including that he participate in a pretrial supervision program.
Through his attorney, Tate filed a motion Sept. 30 to suppress evidence. He argues that warrants used to obtain his Facebook/Meta data did not meet the standard to sufficiently link him as the owner of the accounts or that he was the one using the accounts during referenced time frames in the criminal complaints.
The court took the matter under advisement, and no additional hearings in the case have yet been scheduled, according to online court records.
Minnesota
Shorthanded Clippers can’t keep pace with Anthony Edwards and Minnesota
Anthony Edwards scored 31 points, Donte DiVincenzo added 18 and the surging Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Clippers 94-88 on Thursday night.
Jaden McDaniels and Ayo Dosunmu each scored 12 points and Rudy Gobert had 13 rebounds to help the Timberwolves improve to 5-1 since Feb. 9 and 3-1 since the All-Star break.
Edwards, returning to the site of the All-Star Game, where he was the MVP, was 12 for 24 from the floor and sealed the victory with a step-back three-pointer over two defenders for a 92-88 lead with 42.9 seconds left.
Minnesota improved to 2-0 on a three-game trip.
Derrick Jones Jr. scored 18 points and Bennedict Mathurin added 14 for the Clippers, who struggled from the outset with a season-low 38 points in the first half. Kris Dunn had 11 points for the Clippers (27-31), who have lost three consecutive games for the first time since December.
The Clippers struggled on offense without star Kawhi Leonard, out because of ankle soreness. The Clippers shot 40.5% from the floor, including 18.2% (four for 22) in the second quarter. Minnesota shot 43.4% in the game.
The Timberwolves (37-23) scored just 15 points in the second quarter and still topped the Clippers, who had 11. Minnesota led 44-38 at halftime behind 12 points from DiVincenzo and 11 from Edwards.
The Clippers led by six in the third quarter and were up 68-63 heading into the fourth. Edwards’ drive and reverse layup put the Timberwolves up for good at 76-74 with 7:40 remaining.
The Clippers pulled within one three times in the last 2½ minutes, but Edwards answered each time. He scored the Timberwolves’ last nine points.
Up next for Clippers: vs. New Orleans on Sunday night.
Minnesota
Church congregant filed lawsuit against alleged Minnesota church protesters
A St. Paul church member has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that a group of individuals, including journalist Don Lemon and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, unlawfully disrupted service last month as part of a coordinated political demonstration.
The complaint, filed by Ann Doucette in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota, alleges that a Jan. 18 demonstration at Cities Church interfered with her ability to worship and caused her to suffer damages, including emotional distress and trauma.
In addition to the former CNN anchor and Armstrong, the complaint names journalist Georgia Fort and activists Will Kelly, Jerome Richardson, Trahern Crews and Jamael Lundy. It also names St. Paul school board member Chauntyll Allen.
Doucette and seven of the defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Doucette filed the complaint without the representation of an attorney. In an emailed statement to NBC News, Crews denied the lawsuit’s allegations “with empathy and compassion.”
The lawsuit accuses the group of civil conspiracy, aiding and abetting, intentional infliction of emotional distress, interference with religious exercise and trespassing.
“As a result of Defendants’ actions, the worship service was disrupted, congregants experienced fear and distress, and Plaintiff’s ability to freely exercise her religion in a private place of worship was unlawfully interfered with,” the lawsuit states.
All eight defendants are also facing federal charges for conspiracy against the rights of religious freedom at a place of worship and for interfering with the exercise of the right of religious freedom. Lemon has pleaded not guilty to all charges, saying outside the court, “I wanted to say this isn’t just about me, this is about all journalists, especially in the United States.”
Fort, Crews and Lundy were released on bond and entered not guilty pleas, according to The Associated Press.
This is the latest legal action tied to protests in the Twin Cities, where tensions remain over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
According to the lawsuit, the demonstrators engaged in “coordinated conduct” by organizing meetings ahead of the “Operation Pullup” protest and promoting it on social media.
The lawsuit alleges that on the morning of Jan. 18, a coordinated group of individuals entered Cities Church, halting the worship service, and chanting “‘ICE Out!’ and ‘Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!’” while obstructing aisles. Protesters could allegedly be seen “confronting the pastor and congregants in a menacing manner,” the lawsuit says, noting that their chanting and “aggressive gestures” caused “severe emotional distress, fear, anxiety, and trauma” and caused children “terror.”
Demonstrators gathered at the church because they said its pastor, David Easterwood, was the acting director of an ICE field office in the city, the lawsuit says.
Lemon was arrested in January in California and accused of violating federal civil rights law after covering the protest on Jan. 18. He was released on a personal recognizance bond before a federal grand jury in Minnesota returned the indictment against Lemon and eight co-defendants, all of whom are also named in Doucette’s lawsuit.
In the lawsuit, Doucette alleges that Lemon specifically livestreamed the protest, “noting congregants’ fear and distress, and appeared to take satisfaction in the disruption.”
Levy Armstrong, a Minneapolis-based civil rights attorney and activist, was also arrested for her participation in the St. Paul protest. Her arrest drew national attention after the White House shared on social media doctored photos where she appeared to be crying.
Minnesota
Man arrested, charged with threatening to kill a state senator
A Hubbard County man was arrested and charged after threatening to kill a Minnesota state senator on Facebook.
Court documents filed on Wednesday state the Minnesota State Patrol were investigating a threat posted by John Tobias saying that he would “kill every one of you treasonous [expletive] immediately” if he did not get money back that he claims he lost during the 2020 COVID shutdown.
Court documents go on to say that Tobias then called the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office asking for something to be done about “Minnesota Governor Tim Walz ‘unconstitutionally’ shutting down the state due to COVID-19.
The Minnesota State Patrol contacted Hubbard County deputies regarding Tobias. Court documents state Hubbard County investigators were already familiar with Tobais after speaking with him regarding similar threats he made in Jan.
The charging documents state that investigators searched Tobias’ residence on Tuesday and found an arsenal of guns and 45 boxes of ammunition.
Tobias was taken into custody. During an interview with law enforcement, Tobias admitted to making the threat on Facebook. He also told investigators that “he did not have any intention of killing anyone, but admitted he was trying to get people’s attention,” according to court records.
In late 2025, Lt. Col. Jeremy Geiger of the Minnesota State Patrol, who oversees Capitol security, told a panel of lawmakers that threats to lawmakers had doubled between 2024 and 2025.
Tobias made his first court appearance Wednesday morning and is expected back in court early next month.
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