Shivangi Sinha
In December 2019, the Hennepin County community in Minnesota was startled by the news of the tragic shooting death of local realtor Monique Baugh. Adding to the shock, her boyfriend and the father of her two children also became a victim of gun violence but fortunately survived. Hulu’s ‘Me, Hereafter: A Message, a Murder’ aims to unravel the mysteries surrounding this case, providing insights into the timeline leading up to her demise. It also delves into identifying the perpetrators, shedding light on their motivations for taking Baugh’s life.
Monique Baugh was Lured to Her Death
Monique Latrice Leanna Baugh, born on October 17, 1991, is fondly remembered by her family as a spirited individual with unwavering confidence in everything she pursued. By 2019, she had established herself as a realtor, working for a local company in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Monique maintained a close-knit bond with her family, and during this time, she was in a relationship with Jon Mitchell-Momoh, a Minnesota rapper. The couple shared the joys of parenthood, raising two daughters aged 1 and 3. Together, they created a family home on Humboldt Avenue.
On December 31, 2019, around 4:30 p.m., Baugh received a call from an unidentified number requesting a house showing in Maple Grove. Despite her curiosity about how someone obtained her number, she accepted the job. Approximately an hour after she left, police responded to a shooting near Baugh’s residence. Upon arrival, they discovered that Momoh had been shot multiple times. Fortunately, both of his children were unharmed. He informed the police that an unknown individual, wearing a black mask, had entered the house using a key and shot him.
As the police were investigating the incident, their gunshot detection device alerted them to another shooting on the 1300 block of Russell Avenue North. There, they discovered Baugh, who had been shot and was unresponsive, with her hands bound by duct tape. She’d essentially been kidnapped from the house she’d left to show. The coroner’s report revealed that she had sustained two close-range gunshot wounds to the torso and one to the face, leading to her death.
A U-Haul Truck Led to The Identification of Monique Baugh’s Killers
Investigators gathered evidence in Monique Baugh’s homicide case, retrieving .45 caliber shell casings from both the crime scene where she was discovered and her residence where Jon Mitchell-Momoh was targeted. Launching inquiries into the incident, the police meticulously examined CCTV footage from the respective locations. Their scrutiny unveiled a common factor: a U-Haul Truck with Arizona plates was spotted at both sites before the shootings. Witnesses further reported the presence of a tan-colored Buick in the alley where Baugh was found just minutes before the shooting.
Furthermore, law enforcement successfully located Baugh’s vehicle, situated outside the Maple Grove residence where she had gone for the house showing. Collaborating with surveillance footage from a neighbor’s residence, investigators determined that she arrived at the home around 3 p.m. Subsequently, the previously identified U-Haul truck reappeared, backing into the driveway. Two unidentified men, whose identities remained elusive to the police, entered the house and forcibly ushered her into the cargo hold of the truck.
the police located the U-Haul truck in Ramsey County, discovering that it had been rented on the day of the murder. A subsequent investigation into the rental agreement led them to two individuals. These men revealed that they had rented the truck on behalf of Cedric Berry, a recognized drug dealer in the area. Further inquiries established that Cedric Berry was the assailant who abducted Baugh, and he subsequently shot Momoh an hour later after obtaining the keys from Baugh. He was accompanied by another man named Berry Davis.
The police made two additional arrests in connection to the murder case. 37-year-old Lyndon Wiggins and his girlfriend Elsa Segura were taken into custody. The investigation pointed towards Wiggins orchestrating the two shootings, motivated by a dispute over a record label contract recently acquired by Momoh. Additionally, Wiggins had been accusing the latter of cooperating with authorities regarding drug trafficking allegations against him. Allegations suggested that Segura was tasked with enticing Baugh for the house show, and Cedric Berry and Berry Davis tortured her for information before killing her.
Lyndon Wiggins, Cedric Berry, and Berry Davis are Serving Life Sentences Today
The trial for Cedric Berry and Berry Davis commenced in July 2021. Both 42-year-olds received life sentences without the possibility of parole for the first-degree premeditated murder of Monique Baugh. In addition, they were convicted on kidnapping charges, resulting in sentences of 158 months for Berry and 161 months for Davis. Furthermore, they faced convictions for the attempted second-degree murder of Jon Mitchell-Momoh, with concurrent sentences of 240 months.
In November 2021, a jury convicted 29-year-old Elsa Segura on charges of aiding and abetting attempted premeditated first-degree murder, aiding and abetting kidnapping, and aiding and abetting first-degree murder while committing kidnapping. She received a life sentence without the possibility of parole. However, she appealed her sentence, and in January 2024, the decision was reversed. While she will be brought to a new trial, Segura is currently leading a free life.
In June 2022, Lyndon Wiggins faced trial and received a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. He was found guilty of aiding and abetting the premeditated first-degree murder of Baugh and aiding and abetting attempted kidnapping and first-degree murder while committing the kidnapping of Jon Mitchell-Momoh. Currently serving his sentence at a non-DOC (Department of Corrections) facility in Minnesota, Wiggins will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Read More: Jon Mitchell- Momoh: Where is Monique Baugh’s Boyfriend Now?
