Lured into a Trap: The Tragic Story of Monique Baugh

On December 30, 2019, 28-year-old Minneapolis realtor and devoted mother Monique Baugh received a call to show a vacant home in Maple Grove, Minnesota. Expecting a routine home walkthrough before ringing in the New Year with her two young daughters, Legend and Legacy, Monique had no way of knowing that the prospective buyer was a fake identity created to trap her. She was lured to the property under the guise of a prospective home sale, stepping directly into a cold and calculated ambush.

Upon arriving at the house on New Year's Eve, Monique was forcibly abducted by two men, Cedric Berry and Berry Davis, who bound her hands with Gorilla Tape and forced her into the back of a rented U-Haul truck. For nearly three hours, her captors drove through the snowy Twin Cities while interrogating her for information about her boyfriend, local rapper Jon Mitchell-Momoh. After using a house key taken from Monique's purse to enter her mother's home, a masked gunman shot Momoh multiple times. Shortly after, Monique was taken to a North Minneapolis alley, shot three times at close range, and left in a snowbank.

Investigators soon uncovered that Monique was the victim of a deadly grudge. Lyndon "L.A." Wiggins, a former music associate and drug dealer who held a bitter grudge against Momoh, had masterminded the plot and enlisted his former probation officer girlfriend, Elsa Segura, to pose as a home buyer and set up the fake showing. Over the course of several years, a complex legal battle unfolded—involving multiple trials, Supreme Court appeals, retrials, and eventual life sentences for the perpetrators—leaving a grieving family to honor the legacy of an innocent young mother.

Case Timeline

The Evidence Locker

• Ring & Alley Surveillance Footage: Neighboring security cameras in Maple Grove captured the U-Haul backing up to the house and Monique being forcibly loaded into the cargo area. Alley footage in North Minneapolis later showed the exact same U-Haul pulling away moments after the gunshots were fired.

• Bleach, Ammonia, & Gorilla Tape in the U-Haul: When recovered by police, the returned U-Haul reeked of cleaning chemicals and contained four pink acrylic fingernail tips matching one found at the Maple Grove struggle scene. A roll of Gorilla Tape wrapper was found inside, and six fingerprints on the tape used to bind Monique matched Cedric Berry.

• The Purple Butterfly Key: Dropped on the living room rug at Wanda Baugh's house during the attack on Momoh, this custom purple-and-green butterfly key was identified as Monique's personal house key, proving her captors took it from her purse to gain access.

• Walmart Receipts & Store Security Video: Store footage from December 30 showed Berry Davis and Cedric Berry purchasing two-way radios, bleach, ammonia, and a canvas tent together at 9:30 PM.

• Voicemail Audio & Voice Identification: An alert detective investigating the case immediately recognized the recorded voice of "Lisa Pawlowski" on Monique's voicemail as Elsa Segura, a former probation officer who had been fired for an improper relationship with L.A. Wiggins.

• Digital Footprints & Search History: Forensic analysis of Elsa Segura's phone revealed damning search queries following the crime, including "anxiety," "legal immunity," "incinerator near me," and confession times for the Basilica of St. Mary Church.

• ShotSpotter Acoustic Detection: The Minneapolis ShotSpotter system recorded three gunshots at 6:30 PM on Russell Avenue North, immediately alerting police to the exact alley location where shell casings, part of a realtor lockbox, and Monique's body were located.

Tina & Rich’s Takeaways

"Elsa Segura, she actually could have been a hero. She could have warned Monique that the showing was fake... She had a choice, and she chose to please her boyfriend by sticking to the plan. Monique was an innocent woman whose life was stolen because of other people's pride, rumors, and grudges."

— Tina

"I never considered before that being a realtor could potentially be a dangerous job because you are meeting people that you have no idea who they are, usually in an empty home. It’s just so terrifying to think of what she went through."

— Rich

Sources and Further Reading

• KARE11: 'Mastermind' found guilty on all counts in murder of Minneapolis realtor

• KARE11: Former parole agent sentenced to 20 years after plea deal

• Star Tribune: Local Minnesota Crime & Court News

• Docuseries: Me Hereafter (Available on Hulu)

• Children's Book: Ruby and Onyx and the Magical Pillow Adventure by Wanda Williams Baugh (Available on Amazon)

What Do You Think?

• How can the real estate industry better protect agents who are required to meet unknown clients alone in vacant properties?

• Do you think Elsa Segura’s 20-year sentence through a plea deal was just, or should accomplice involvement in a targeted kidnapping carry the exact same penalty as the triggermen?

• How do you feel about acoustic surveillance technology like ShotSpotter—does the speed at which it helps law enforcement locate victims outweigh the privacy concerns surrounding automated urban audio monitoring?

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