Teen admits role in daytime mass shooting outside Twin Cities market that wounded 9

An 18-year-old has admitted to being one of two teenagers who shot and wounded nine people, at least four of them juveniles, outside a Minneapolis market one afternoon last summer.

Demario Lee Dempsey, of Minneapolis, agreed Tuesday to plead guilty to three counts of second-degree attempted murder in connection with the mass shooting in August 2023 outside the Minneapolis Market, near the intersection of E. Franklin and S. Chicago avenues.

The plea agreement between the County Attorney’s Office and Dempsey’s defense calls for him to be sentenced June 30 to a term topping 15 years. With credit for time in jail since his arrest, Dempsey is expected to serve roughly 9¾ years in prison and the balance on supervised release.

In late April, co-defendant Jaden T. Butcher, 19, of Minneapolis, pleaded guilty to numerous counts of aiding and abetting first-degree attempted murder. His plea deal calls for Butcher to be sentenced, also on June 30, to 18⅓ years. With credit for jail time, he’s is expected to serve 11⅓ years in prison and the rest on supervised release.

According to the criminal complaint and police records concerning the shooting in August 2023:

Shortly before 6 p.m., two people with guns — a pistol and a fully automatic rifle — exited a car and fired at least 42 rounds into a crowd and hit “no less than nine people,” the charges read. ShotSpotter technology detected at least 28 shots fired within 1½ seconds.