Marcus Hallmark hung out with his sister’s boyfriend Friday, and that night the two men went to Minnetonka to change a flat tire.
They were working on the tire when Hallmark, 25, shot his sister’s boyfriend in the head, according to murder charges filed Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court.
Hallmark, 25, of Columbia Heights, used a gun stolen from a Farmington home to commit the murder, police say.
According to the complaint, Thomas John Russ, Hallmark and two unnamed women were hanging out Friday in Columbia Heights when Hallmark borrowed one of the women’s car. But while he was out he got a flat tire and left the car at the Metro Transit ramp on Wayzata Boulevard in Minnetonka. The four drove to the ramp together that evening to fix the tire and retrieve the car.
The two women were waiting in the car while Russ and Hallmark worked on the other car’s tire, according to charges, when they heard a loud bang.
The women looked toward the sound and saw Russ on the ground. One woman said Russ’s hands were in the air. The women said Hallmark then bent over Russ and they heard a second bang. One of the women said she saw the handgun pointed at Russ’s head, according to the complaint.
Hallmark fled the scene and the women drove toward Ridgedale Mall and called 911. Russ, 32, of Minneapolis, died at the scene, according to the Hennepin County medical examiner’s office.
Police tracked Hallmark to a nearby swamp and arrested him after a search and standoff. They also found the gun and some other items later determined to be stolen from a home in Farmington.
The criminal complaint doesn’t touch on Hallmark’s motive in the killing.
Hallmark faces one count of second-degree murder and a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison. His criminal history includes convictions for burglary, theft, drug possession and aiding and abetting assault causing substantial bodily harm.
Prosecutors will ask for $1 million bail when Hallmark makes his first court appearance Wednesday, according to the Hennepin County attorney’s office.