Man accused of shooting death of neighbor in Minneapolis faced repeated threats and harassment

An arrest warrant has been issued for a Minneapolis man after a year-long pattern of harassing and intimidating his neighbors culminated in a shooting earlier this week, court documents say.

John Herbert Sawchak, 54, faces charges of attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, stalking and stalking while motivated by bias.

The victim, Davis Moturi, installed a surveillance camera at his home to capture evidence of the escalating threats. Video of the incident, which happened Wednesday evening, shows him trimming a tree near the border of Sawchak’s apartment building before a popping sound was heard. The victim then falls back to the ground.

“I thought, ‘I need help.’ Part of my brain shut down,” Davis Moturi told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS Friday from his hospital bed.

He called his wife Caroline Moturi, who rushed home.

“I found him, he was at the entrance, curled up in the fetal position in agony,” Caroline Moturi said.

She took her husband to the hospital, but he did not realize he had been shot.

According to the criminal complaint, a medical examination determined that Davis Moturi was struck by a small-caliber bullet lodged near his spine. The angle of the puncture wound indicated that he had been shot from above, and the bullet went through his neck and then fractured his spine and at least two ribs.

According to the complaint, Caroline Moturi told police that Sawchak “almost certainly” shot her husband.

A year of threats

The couple purchased the home in the 3500 block of Grand Avenue South in September 2023. They have since told police they have faced numerous threats from Sawchak, who lives in a nearby apartment on the second floor.

“It’s been hell,” Davis told Moturi of the ongoing ordeal.

A week before the shooting, Sawchak allegedly told Moturi, “Touch my tree again and I’ll kill you.” He threatened Davis Moturi from behind a tree back in October 2023.

Other incidents included threatening to “put the victim in hospital” while he was working on the stairs, throwing objects at him from a second floor window and threateningly holding a knife in a window while threatening the couple. Most recently, on October 14, Savchak pointed a gun at the victim from a window. Many of the threats were laced with racial slurs and slurs, according to the complaint.

In total, the Moturi reported 19 incidents of vandalism, property damage, harassment and threats during the year they lived in the neighborhood.

“I’ve had to call the police so many times,” Davis Moturi said.

Months without arrest

Online prison records show Sawchak has not yet been taken into custody. Court records show he has at least three other outstanding warrants related to “threats or acts of violence” against the victim and her neighbors.

Hennepin County District Attorney spokeswoman Mary Moriarty said her office charged Sawchak with threats of violence “as a result of his conduct toward Mr. Moturi” back in July and issued a warrant for his arrest. In filing charges in connection with Wednesday’s shooting, prosecutors learned of several incidents that had occurred since the warrant was issued.

“Mr. Moturi and his wife have suffered from Mr. Sawchak’s violent behavior for more than a year since they purchased the home in September 2023,” prosecutors said. “We will continue to do everything in our power to bring Mr. Sawchak to justice and to protect Mr. Moturi, his wife and the community at large from his violent behavior.”

Ward 8 City Councilwoman Andrea Jenkins, representing the Moturi family, sent a letter with the support of other council members who expressed their outrage that Sawchak was never arrested on outstanding warrants and was left to terrorize a family who reported repeated threats.

“We write today in utter horror at MPD’s failure to protect a Minneapolis resident from the clear, persistent and widely publicized threat posed by his neighbor,” said the letter addressed to Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O’Hara.

The letter alleges that MPD failed to provide reports to Moriarty’s office when Moturi was told that Sawchak had threatened them with a knife and then a gun in the weeks before the shooting. Additionally, the letter states, “MPD advised HCAO that it did not intend to execute the warrant “due to officer safety concerns.”

“MPD’s inaction caused Mr. Moturi to wonder, ‘Am I not a human being like you?’ “We echo Mr. Moturi’s heartbreaking question as to why MPD failed to protect this Black resident from a clear and serious threat and why they continue to do so while refusing to cooperate with the District Attorney’s Office and failing to arrest the suspect,” the letter states. . “We also have many questions about how and why MPD leadership and the mayor allowed this situation to escalate.”

Chief O’Hara Pounces

At a heated press conference Friday, Chief O’Hara defended his police department’s handling of the case and blamed the media, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, the Minneapolis City Council and even the victim for allowing the dispute to escalate into violence.

O’Hara said officers tried numerous times to arrest Sawchak, but he never came out of the house or responded to police who tried to make contact.

He said that given that the suspect is mentally ill and is known to have a weapon, there is a “high” likelihood that the execution of a high-risk search warrant will end in a violent confrontation.

“We wanted to arrest the suspect where he would be least likely to have access to a firearm. It’s outside the residence,” O’Hara said, adding that until Wednesday, MPD only had a warrant for threats made by Sawchak. “Unfortunately, in this case, the suspect is a recluse and does not leave the house often.”

O’Hara accused Davis Moturi of failing to notify an MPD lieutenant when Sawchak left the house. He said Davis Moturi should have left the tree on his property alone after Sawchak threatened him over it.

“The situation escalated in part due to actions that were instigated by the victim,” O’Hara said.

The chief of staff then addressed “the current rhetoric surrounding police” and said it was “limiting our ability to make lawful arrests.”

“Anyone who suggests that the police do not want to arrest this man is simply mistaken. However, the officers are, frankly, scared. They are afraid of being held accountable if they make a mistake while trying to do their job and protect the public,” O’Hara said. “…Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”

The chief also expressed disappointment with the city council members’ letter, saying no one tried to call him before sending the letter. Jenkins, who attended the news conference, told reporters that she contacted O’Hara, Frey, Moriarty and an MPD inspector “many, many times” before Wednesday’s shooting.

O’Hara took just two questions from the media before leaving the briefing room, but Councilman Jenkins followed him down the hallway, where the two had a heated exchange behind a closed door before ending in an embrace.

Jenkins did not mince her words when asked about O’Hara’s comments that officers were afraid to confront Sawchak at his home.

“I can tell you this: We pay our officers a lot of money to do the job they signed up for, and so they have to be willing to do the job,” Jenkins said. “I think that’s what the police chief said: Everyone has to do their job.”

Moturi said, “He knows there is no defense to what happened” in response to Chief O’Hara’s explanation during a news conference. He called O’Hara’s remarks offensive and disagreed with his version of events. According to Maturi: “When I asked for help, crickets appeared.”

He also told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that his actions contributed to the shooting being “so disrespectful and rude.”

“They treat me like I’m a criminal because they did everything and they can’t explain it,” Moturi said. “I feel like I’m being treated this way because of the color of my skin.”

A GoFundMe has been launched to help Moturi, which can be found HERE.