Murder charge filed in Allison Lussier’s death after years of family pressure

Allison Lussier’s family always believed her boyfriend was responsible for the 47-year-old Indigenous woman’s death and that Minneapolis police mishandled the investigation.

They never stopped pressuring authorities to make an arrest.

At a news conference at the Hennepin County Government Center on Thursday, they heard the news they’d waited two and a half years to hear when County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced that her office has charged Charles Foss, Lussier’s boyfriend, with murder.

Lussier was found dead in her Minneapolis apartment in February 2024. Foss, 36, faces one count of second-degree murder and one count of stalking.

Lussier’s family said from the start they believed Foss could have been responsible for her death. In the days following her death, they pointed to the couple’s violent three-year relationship and the multiple times Lussier called Minneapolis police to report abuse. Because Lussier also lived with substance use disorder, the family feared police had dismissed the role domestic violence played in her death.

A city audit released in April found police mishandled the case from the beginning. For Lussier’s family and the Native community that rallied around them, Thursday’s charges were a long-awaited relief.

Moriarty said police first brought the case to her office in June 2024, but there was not enough evidence to file charges then. Moriarty said her office assigned its own investigators. She credited Lussier’s family and community members with putting them in touch with witnesses who had been reluctant to talk to police.

“Your demand for accountability kept Allison in the spotlight and directly assisted us in conducting additional investigation,” Moriarty told the family during the news conference. She added that she did not think investigators would have reached some critical witnesses, “but for the family.”

Lussier’s aunt, Jana Williams, has been the family’s most public voice since her death. Speaking to reporters after the announcement of the charges, Williams thanked those who stood with the family.

“I didn’t know that this day would ever come, and I appreciate every single one of you that has stood by me,” Williams said. “This never would have happened if we didn’t have everybody standing together.”

Moriarty said Foss will appear in court to hear the charges and enter a plea early next week. Foss is already serving a prison sentence in another case.

Prosecutors point to a head injury, not a drug overdose

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner determined Lussier died of an acute subdural hematoma — bleeding between the brain and the skull. The medical examiner could not determine the manner of death, whether it was homicide or an accident, because her body was not found for several days after she had died. Toxicology tests found fentanyl and methamphetamine in her system.

But Moriarty said the drugs in Lussier’s system had nothing to do with how she died. The County Attorney said the injury would have caused death quickly, which made the timeline of Lussier’s last hours central developing the charges brought against Foss.

“Many people struggle with drugs. Many people take drugs. Allison Lussier did not cause her [own] death,” Moriarty said.

According to the complaint, Lussier and Foss had dated on and off for about three years. On Feb. 13, 2024, the caretaker of Lussier’s building called 911. Lussier had come to her door without a shirt, shaken, and said Foss had physically assaulted her. Foss was gone before officers arrived.

Lussier called police again overnight on Feb. 17 to report that Foss was in her apartment and refused to leave. Officers escorted him out and told him not to return. Police later said that call fell outside the 72-hour window state law allows for an arrest without a warrant after a misdemeanor domestic assault.

Lussier reported Foss’s abuse to police multiple times. Her family has said police took as many as seven domestic violence reports from her, starting in August 2022.

The complaint documents abuse dating back to 2021. In March of that year, Lussier got an order for protection against Foss.

Questions about the police response

The investigation into Lussier’s death became a flash point for the Minneapolis Police Department. Former police chief Brian O’Hara said in a statement that Lussier had a “massive” amount of drugs in her system. He later apologized to the family for that statement just before the city’s audit of her case was made public.

The city’s “After Action Review” was critical of the investigation into Lussier’s death. The audit found responding officers did not treat Lussier’s apartment as a crime scene. It also found that MPD had not requested the medical examiner’s report until auditors asked for it. The report said that messaging from police leadership was at times “premature, underinformed, and inaccurate.”

Deputy Chief of Investigations Charlie Adams stood with Moriarty on Thursday.

Adams said police have since changed how it handles and investigates domestic violence incidents. Officers often arrive at the scene after the suspected abuser has left. Now, MPD now sends an apprehension team to quickly arrest suspects in the most violent of those cases. The department also turned its community navigators into domestic violence navigators who work with victims.

Asked about former police chief O’Hara’s past comments, Adams distanced the department’s current leadership from that statement.

“That was the past administration that made that comment. This is a new administration,” Adams said.

“We were not going to go ahead if we did not have proof beyond a reasonable doubt. We’re here. We’re confident about that, and we’re ready to move forward,” Moriarty said.

‘We knew what had happened’

After the announcement, the family moved outside the Government Center, where they could gather to sing a traditional Ojibwe song. Williams stood with Lussier’s sisters, her son Josh Hanks, Indigenous community members and the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice. She said the family expected a decision related to a grand jury on Thursday and learned instead that charges had been filed.

Williams said that Minneapolis police never interviewed the family after Lussier died.

“No one ever asked us a question about Allison’s death. We knew what had happened,” she said.

Williams said the family will push for a bill at the state legislature next year, named for Lussier. It would require police to interview families when someone with a history of domestic violence dies in a suspicious death, including deaths ruled an overdose or suicide.

Hanks said he learned the news just before Moriarty’s news conference. He said the anger he had carried for two and a half years “just kind of just washed away in one smooth motion.”

“I hope this saves lives. I hope that my mom’s able to feel better in the place where she’s at today,” Hanks said.

• Red Lake Nation child welfare investigation and aftermath, explained
• Red Lake Nation vigil mourns children lost, amid questions about child welfare program
• Red Lake chair says he will not step down from elected position