MINNEAPOLIS - A former football player at North Dakota’s Valley City State University was convicted Thursday in a shooting that killed one man and wounded another outside a Minneapolis nightclub last year.
A Hennepin County jury convicted Cedric Chappell Jr., 22, of aiding a gang-related murder and attempted murder, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
Chappell was charged in a gunfight outside the Blue Nile restaurant and bar. Willie James Smith III, 22, of St. Paul, was killed and another man was shot in the leg.
Chappell, who is originally from Minneapolis, was arrested in Valley City last October days after the shooting. A standout two-sport athlete in high school in Minneapolis, he was a wide receiver on the VCSU football team.
According to the Star Tribune, prosecutors are seeking up to 30 years in prison for the murder alone. Sentencing is set for Sept. 11.
