Alleged Gun Threat Leads to Felony Conviction For Rochester Man

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester man is scheduled to be sentenced next month for a felony conviction stemming from accusations that he brandished a handgun during a domestic assault incident last year.

Court records state that 24-year-old Dominique DeShaun Murphy was arrested on August 7 after Rochester police officers responded to a report of a domestic assault at a home in northeast Rochester. The court document says a woman at the residence told the officers that Murphy had come to her home demanding money and threatened to break her fingers when he tried to take her phone.

The criminal complaint alleged that Murphy then threw the victim onto a couch and covered her mouth with his hand, preventing her from breathing, while he attempted to force her eyes open to unlock her phone. According to the victim's statement, Murphy then took her purse and other personal items out to his vehicle, which provided her an opportunity to lock the front door to her home.

The charges filed in the case alleged that Murphy then pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the woman's door while demanding to be let in. The victim alleged that he told her "not to make him use this" before he returned to his car.

The court document says Rochester police searched Murphy's vehicle and found the victim's property inside. The officers also indicated that they found two handguns, and extended magazines holding 28 bullets, and for smoke grenades.

He was charged with second-degree assault, simple robbery, terroristic threats, illegal possession of an explosive/incendiary device, and domestic assault, along with a gross misdemeanor count of possessing a pistol without a permit, and misdemeanor domestic assault.

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Under the terms of a plea agreement reached last week, Murphy admitted to the felony terroristic threats charge in exchange for the dismissal of all of the other charges in the case. The plea deal recommends a 60 day jail sentence.