Man Pleads Guilty To Murdering Friend At Downtown Hotel

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A Dayton man pleaded guilty Wednesday to shooting and killing his friend at the downtown Millennium Hotel in February, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office said.

Brian Griffin, 33, pleaded guilty to charges of second-degree murder and second-degree assault.

The attorney's office said the murder happened on Feb. 11, after Griffin had smoked meth with three other men in a hotel room. At around 2:25 a.m., Griffin got up and walked to the door. It seemed like he was leaving the room, but he turned around, pulled a gun from his waistband and fired several shots at the other men.

One of the men, Jeremy Shannon, died at the hotel after suffering multiple gunshot wounds.

Griffin admitted to police that Shannon and the other men were talking about things that made him nervous. He intended to leave, but then thought, "I have to do this," according to the criminal complaint.

Griffin was found hiding in a closet at the nearby Hyatt Regency Hotel in Minneapolis shortly after the shooting. No one else was hit by the bullets, police said.

Griffin's sentencing is scheduled for June 4. He is expected to receive a 26-year sentence for the murder charge and a 5-year sentence for the assault charge, the attorney's office said.