INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn. — A 25-year-old man will be sentenced in May after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting death of an Inver Grove Heights man inside his own home.
Dakota County Attorney Kathryn Keena announced Tuesday that Logan David Slack of Minneapolis admitted his role in the murder of 43-year-old Michael Chang-Beom Lee in September of 2022. Slack will be sentenced on May 3.
The fatal shooting happened around 2 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24. Inver Grove Heights police say squads responded to a home on the 2100 block of 78th Court East after receiving a 911 call where the caller hung up. When officers arrived, they found Lee dead on the floor in a downstairs bathroom, according to a criminal complaint filed in Dakota County.
Court documents say officers at Lee's house spoke with witnesses who said they saw a dark-colored SUV drive away from the scene seconds before officers arrived. A different officer stopped a black Toyota at a nearby intersection that was carrying three passengers. Slack was driving, and one of his passengers was identified as 25-year-old Fotini West.
West reportedly had blood on her arms, hands and chest, and told police that she went to a man's house and was assaulted when she tried to leave, prosecutors said.
When officers performing the traffic stop learned that a deceased male victim had been located inside a nearby home, they were asked to take a photo of Slack's shoe soles to see if they matched bloody footprints found at the crime scene. Upon transporting Slack to the Dakota County Jail, officers noticed a lump in his sweatshirt pocket, which was determined to be the soles of the shoes he was wearing, the documents said.
When interviewed by detectives, Slack reportedly told investigators that he had dropped West off at Lee's home to allegedly perform an erotic massage in exchange for money. According to prosecutors, West told Slack that she was assaulted and payment for the erotic services was canceled. At that point, Slack reportedly got a gun from his SUV, forced his way into the residence by breaking through a back door and chased Lee into the basement where the victim locked himself inside the bathroom.
The complaint says Slack then broke a hole in the door and shot Lee in the back to stop him from calling 911 and obtain his cell phone to "ensure electronic payment for the massage."
After the shooting, West took Lee's phone and both defendants fled the house, prosecutors said.
Police searched the SUV that West and Slack were riding in and located a revolver and cell phone with blood on it under the front passenger seat.
Fotini West is also charged with second-degree murder: She is scheduled to make her next court appearance on February 22.
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