Inset: Monique Baugh (Estes Funeral Chapel). Background: Lyndon Wiggins at his trial in the death of Baugh (KMSP).
In Minnesota, prosecutors have successfully secured the conviction of the last defendant involved in a sinister scheme to abduct and murder a real estate agent under the guise of a house showing.
On Monday, a jury found 40-year-old Lyndon Wiggins guilty of charges including aiding or abetting first-degree murder, attempted murder, kidnapping with intent to inflict great bodily harm, and first-degree murder during a kidnapping. Wiggins, alongside three accomplices, deceived 28-year-old real estate agent Monique Baugh into attending a house viewing on New Year’s Eve 2019, which tragically led to her abduction and subsequent murder.
This conviction marks Wiggins’ second by a jury, following a Minnesota Supreme Court decision that called for a retrial due to incorrect jury instructions that affected both him and his co-defendant, his girlfriend.
The plot had its roots in a dispute between Wiggins and Baugh’s boyfriend, both of whom were involved in the music industry. Wiggins enlisted the help of his girlfriend, Elsa Segura, who contacted Baugh using a disposable phone, pretending to be a potential buyer named “Lisa Powalski.”
When Baugh arrived on December 31, 2019, she was confronted not by a client, but by Cedric Berry, now 47, and Berry Davis, now 46. The pair restrained her with duct tape and forcibly loaded her into a U-Haul van.
“After a period of about 2 ½ hours, the perpetrators drove to the Minneapolis home of Baugh where her boyfriend, identified as J.M.-M., was caring for their two children. There, J.M.-M. was shot multiple times,” court documents reveal. “Subsequently, Berry and Davis took Baugh to an alley in Minneapolis and fatally shot her. While J.M.-M. survived the shooting, Baugh did not recover from her injuries.”
Berry and Davis were convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Before her new trial, Segura, a former probation officer, pleaded guilty last year to kidnapping to commit great bodily harm. A judge sentenced her to 20 years behind bars.
But Baugh’s family was none too pleased that Segura went from a life sentence to two decades.
“She sits in there, and she figured out how to get shorter time,” Lucille Baugh, the victim’s aunt, told local Fox affiliate KMSP through tears. “She should feel that for the rest of her life. Her family should feel it for the rest of her life.”
“Not one time … you apologize,” she added. “Not once, but you can sit, and you can figure out how to get your time cut short. That’s not acceptable.”
Wiggins will be sentenced to life in prison on Nov. 13.
“Monique Baugh’s family has waited nearly six years for the cases against all defendants to conclude,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said. “Mr. Wiggins played a primary role in Monique’s death, and he is being held accountable. My thoughts are with Monique’s family, and I want to express my gratitude to the jury for their service and to our trial team for securing this conviction.”
