Charges: Man Fatally Choked Girlfriend's Brother In New Brighton

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 54-year-old Minneapolis man is accused of murder after he apparently choked his girlfriend's brother to death during a domestic incident in New Brighton last Friday, according to charges filed in Ramsey County Court.

Steven Maurice Abrams was charged with second-degree murder with intent not premeditated in connection with the incident.

According to the charges, New Brighton police were called at about 8 p.m. to a domestic incident at 1476 20th Avenue NW. When officers arrived, they found a 58-year-old man down and unresponsive inside the residence. The man was taken to a hospital, where he died a short time later.

An adult female told police that her domestic partner, identified as Abrams, assaulted her brother. She had kicked Abrams out of the residence earlier that day. He came back, her brother let him in and Abrams assaulted her. Her brother intervened, called 911 and Abrams grabbed him and threw him around the apartment.

The complaint stats the woman's brother fell to the ground, and Abrams kneeled on top of him and choked him with both hands. He also bounced up and down on the man's chest while he continued to choke him. The man said, "Please stop, I can't breathe." Abrams said he didn't care and that he was going to kill him. The man lost consciousness, and Abrams didn't stop choking him until police arrived.

According to the complaint, Abrams was still on scene when officers arrived and appeared intoxicated. He yelled to officers, "I choked his ass." He was arrested and just before getting into a squad car, he told officers, "I told that b***h I was going to f*****g kill him."

The complaint states Abrams spoke with police and said he and the woman had been together for 20 years. He said she kicked him out of her residence that day and when he came back, her brother was carrying his bags out. Abrams said they exchanged words and her brother put his hands on him. Abrams said, "I had my hands around his mother f*****g throat, and I tried to choke his tongue pallet out of his mother f*****g throat."

Abrams said he has tired of the girlfriend's brother being in their lives. He said the victim might have asked him to stop. Abrams said, "But right then I didn't have any mercy." When investigators told Abrams the victim had died, he said, "That's bull***t." He then said, "Ok, he was dying anyway."

The Midwest Medical Examiner's Office determined the man died from injuries consistent with strangulation and ruled the death a homicide.

If convicted, Abrams faces up to 40 years in jail.