Twin Cities man convicted of fatally stabbing cousin, leaving body in SUV

Jurors have convicted a Minneapolis man of fatally stabbing his cousin 19 times and leaving the body in an SUV in Crystal.

Larondo C. Willis, 38, was found guilty Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court of second-degree intentional murder in connection with the killing on March 20, 2024, of Eddie D. Winters, 40, of Minneapolis.

Willis remains jailed ahead of sentencing, which is scheduled for May 12.

An autopsy by the Medical Examiner’s Office counted nine stab wounds to Winters’ neck, four to his chest, five to his back and one to his mid-torso. He also had numerous cuts to his hands consistent with defensive wounds.

The criminal complaint said Willis and other family members were upset with Winters for fleeing the scene in April 2022 when another cousin was killed “to save himself instead of helping him.”

At the time of the stabbing, Willis was on supervised release after serving slightly less than eight years in prison for a rape in Hennepin County in 2015.

According to the complaint:

Officers were dispatched about 7:25 a.m. on March 21, 2024, to the 3200 block of Hampshire Avenue N. to check on an SUV that had been there for hours with the engine running.

The officers saw a bloodied and wounded Winters dead in the vehicle. The officers also saw a large amount of blood in the SUV and on the exterior of the passenger-side front door.

Winters’ son told police that he drove his father to a barbershop that evening. A man later entered whom Winters referred to as his cousin. The teen said the three of them left the barbershop together. The son was dropped off at home, and Winters and the man drove off.

The barbershop owner told police that Winters worked there, and brought his son in for a haircut. Willis showed up around the same time for an appointment he had made, the owner said.

Willis was arrested on March 21, 2024, on an unrelated assault charge. Police seized his phone and determined from its data that he was near the crime scene around the time that Winters’ SUV was first spotted there. Police also collected from Willis a folding knife and bloodied shorts.