Man admits to killing at Minneapolis gas station where no one called 911 or came to victim’s aid

A 46-year-old man has admitted to a fatal shooting in February at a north Minneapolis gas station in which hours passed before anyone called to help the victim.

Marvin Jewell Dancy, of Crystal, agreed in Hennepin County District Court to plead guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the killing of 21-year-old Wence Ledell Edwards, of Minneapolis on Feb. 5 in the alley behind the Handy Stop on the 2600 block of West Broadway.

The plea agreement calls for Dancy to be sentenced to a term of slightly more than 12¾ years. With credit for time in jail since his arrest, Dancy can expect to serve the first 8¾ years in prison and the balance on supervised release.

Dancy’s criminal history spans many years and includes seven convictions for drug-related offenses, three for fleeing police and one each for robbery, burglary and assault.

According to the criminal complaint:

Police were alerted on Feb. 6 shortly after midnight to a body in the alley behind the gas station. Edwards had been shot multiple times.

Investigators determined Edwards had been shot about 2 hours earlier near the gasoline pumps. The charges did not offer a motive for the killing.

Gas station surveillance video showed Dancy firing numerous times at a fleeing Edwards, who had a gun in one hand and managed to get off one shot.

“Neither employees nor other customers called 911 after the shooting or attempted to render aid to the victim,” the complaint read.

Dancy was stopped and arrest on on Feb. 23 in Minneapolis while in the same SUV he was driving when he stopped at the gas station on the night of the shooting.