A jury in St. Paul delivered its verdict today in the weeklong trial of Derrick John Thompson, son of former state Rep. John Derrick Thompson (DFL-St. Paul, b. 1971).
You will recall that Derrick, now aged 29 (b. 1995), also stands accused in state court of the murder of five young women in a horror car crash in June of last year.
Shortly before that crash near Lake Street in south Minneapolis, Derrick had rented a Cadillac Escalade at the MSP airport.
After the crash, police searched his rented Escalade and found a loaded handgun and lots and lots of illegal drugs. Derrick has past felony convictions in Minnesota and California.
KARE-11 TV reports,
Thompson faced three charges – possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, being a felon in possession of a firearm and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. Closing arguments in the case were delivered Thursday at 2 p.m., and then jurors deliberated for a short time Thursday and a few hours Friday before reaching their verdict.
Thompson and his lawyers blamed his brother, Damarco John Thompson, for the presence of the gun and drugs in the vehicle that night. Damarco (b. 1993) was riding shotgun in the Escalade but managed to escape from the scene of the crash. Damarco has previous felony gun and drug convictions.
The jury didn’t buy the Damarco blame shifting.
No date has been set yet for Derrick’s Federal sentencing.
He faces 15 felony counts in state court on the fatal car crash. He is due in court for a pre-trial hearing on November 4, with a trial date of February 2025.