MINNEAPOLIS — A former probation officer was sentenced to 20 years in prison as part of a plea deal Tuesday, allowing her to avoid a second trial in the kidnapping and murder of real estate agent Monique Baugh.
Elsa Segura sat expressionless at Tuesday's sentencing after pleading guilty to one count of kidnapping to commit great bodily harm. As part of her plea deal, Segura took responsibility for her role in Baugh's death, admitting she used a fake name and a "burner" phone to set up a house showing so a rival of Baugh's boyfriend and his friends could kidnap and kill her.
Hennepin County District Court Judge Mark Kappelhoff handed down a sentence of 240 months (12 years), giving Segura credit for 1,499 days already served. "You could have been the person to warn Ms. Baugh not to go to that showing," Kappelhoff told the court. "But instead, you chose another path that eventually led to Monique Baugh's death."
KARE 11's Lou Raguse says during the sentencing hearing, a tribute video was playing in the courtroom when one of Baugh's family members began shouting at the defendant. "She doesn't understand what she's done... I want to hear her say it!" the woman shouted before court security led the woman from the courtroom. She was allowed to re-enter five minutes later.
Segura declined the opportunity to speak in court.
Tuesday's plea hearing eliminated the need for a second trial for Segura after the Minnesota Supreme Court overturned two convictions and the accompanying life sentence after finding prosecutors failed to provide sufficient evidence and gave the jury erroneous instructions. Segura remained behind bars, however, as two other convictions involving the kidnapping-murder plot stood.
In the early hours of Jan. 1, 2020, Baugh was found shot to death in a Minneapolis alley. Three other defendants were sentenced to life without parole in what prosecutors said was a scheme aimed at getting revenge against Baugh’s boyfriend, Jon Mitchell-Momoh, a recording artist who had a falling out with Lydon Wiggins, a former music business associate of his. who was also a drug dealer.
Baugh’s boyfriend, who Wiggins allegedly considered a snitch, was also shot but survived.
Investigators say Baugh was lured to a home she was selling in Maple Grove after Segura repeatedly called and texted her, indicating she was interested in the home. Instead, Baugh was kidnapped and taken to her home in Minneapolis. Her boyfriend was shot in front of her children, at that time ages 1 and 3.
Baugh was later found fatally shot and dumped in a nearby alley.
Lyndon Wiggens, considered by prosecutors as the mastermind of the plot, was also granted a retrial based on the same issue involving “aiding and abetting” that caused the Supreme Court to overturn Segura's convictions. He will be in court later this week to either plead guilty to a charge of aiding and abetting first-degree murder or indicate he will move toward a second trial.