Four arrested in connection with August homicide in east Sioux Falls

SIOUX FALLS — Four men have been arrested and charged in connection with an August shooting that left one man dead.

The Sioux Falls Police Department on Wednesday, May 3, announced the arrests of 19-year-old Mohamed Hassan, 19-year-old Hamza Hassan, 18-year-old Salim Mohamed and 20-year-old Mustefa Sahle in connection with the shooting death of 36-year-old Tunis Lomax more than eight months ago.

The arrests stem from the night of Aug. 20, 2022, when officers with the Sioux Falls Police Department responded to the 1800 block of South Stephen Avenue for a report of a man with a gunshot wound. Officers located Lomax dead on arrival, with a .40-caliber shell casing nearby.

Lt. Nick Butler said the investigation began with no suspects, but a series of events over the coming weeks and months helped authorities build the case from the “ground up.”

Nearly three weeks after Lomax was found dead, on Sept. 9, 2022, police were called to an area of East 10th Street for a separate report of a shooting. Butler said in that case, a group of individuals had fired at least one shot at a vehicle-owner who had confronted the group who was attempting to burglarize cars.

In an interview with police, one of the burglary suspects — whom Butler did not name — admitted to being with Mohamed Hassan and Salim Mohamed before and after the Sept. 9 shooting.

An investigation determined that the firearm used in both shootings had been purchased from Salim Mohamed about two weeks after Lomax’s killing in August, and that during the purchase of the firearm, Salim Mohamed had allegedly admitted using that gun to shoot Lomax.

Butler said continued investigation found evidence that linked Mohamed Hassan to the firearm, which forensic testing determined had ejected the shell found near Lomax’s body. Citizen reports of two stolen vehicles seen fleeing the scene of the homicide were linked back to Salim Mohamed and Mohamed Hassan, Butler said, which were corroborated by surveillance video and later found abandoned nearby.

Additional forensic evidence linked Hamza Hassan and Mustefa Sahle to the vehicles that were determined to be at the scene of the homicide, Butler said.

On Tuesday, May 2, Butler said the Sioux Falls Police Department, with assistance from the Minnehaha County Joint Fugitive Task Force, were able to locate and arrest all four men.

Salim Mohamed was charged with one count each of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, possession of a stolen vehicle and grand theft. The other three were each charged with first-degree manslaughter, possession of a stolen vehicle and grand theft.

“This investigation has taken quite some time and there's some people that need to be recognized, including the family of Mr. Lomax,” Butler said Wednesday, “who have remained devoted and in connection with the police department and has been as patient as can possibly be expected given the circumstances.”

Butler also shared his thanks with those involved in investigating the case and taking the men into custody.

“The detectives who have spent the last eight months — every single day — putting time and effort and their heart into this investigation need some recognition as well, along with other divisions of our detective bureau, the patrol officers who did a good job investigating at the very outset of this incident and of course the sheriffs office who assisted us in rounding up these individuals,” he said.

Butler said that police have yet to establish a motive in the case, but noted that the investigation will remain ongoing “up until the date of prosecution.”

Mohamed and Hamza Hassan are currently being held in the Minnehaha County jail on a $1,000,025 bond, while Salim Mohamed is being held on a $1,000,717 bond. Sahle is being without bond.