Minneapolis Man Charged With Setting Fatal Fire

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Bail is set at $1 million for a Minneapolis man charged with intentionally setting a fatal apartment building fire.

Thirty-year-old Marcus Dewayne Shanks faces second-degree murder and arson charges. He appeared in Hennepin County court Wednesday and was granted a public defender.

When first responders arrived at the apartment Friday night, they found several residents hanging from windows. A man and a woman jumped from the third floor to escape. The man, 59-year-old Royce Wayne James, died later at the hospital. The woman remains in critical condition.

A criminal complaint says a witness reported seeing Shanks in the apartment building before the fire, dousing a stairwell in lighter fluid. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment afterhours Wednesday. Shanks is due back in court Nov. 6.