Allison Lussier Case: Charles Henry Foss Charged After Years of Family Advocacy and Review of Police Failures

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Charles Henry Foss has been charged with second-degree unintentional murder and stalking in the death of Allison Lussier, more than two and a half years after the 47-year-old Indigenous woman was found dead in her North Loop apartment. The charges follow repeated demands from her family for an investigation and a city review documenting failures in the police response.

Hennepin County prosecutors announced the charges October 22, 2026. The case is filed as 27-CR-26-27418. Foss, identified in reporting as 36, is already serving a prison sentence in a separate case. The new charges remain allegations; he has not been convicted of killing Lussier. Source: Hennepin County Attorney’s Office

Allison Lussier and her family’s early search for answers

Lussier’s aunt, Jana Williams, described her to MPR News as loyal, generous in spirit and someone remembered for her smile. Her son, Joshua Hanks, joined relatives and Indigenous advocates in pressing authorities to examine the domestic violence she had reported before her death.

The family’s public advocacy began long before charges. On March 2, 2024, relatives and supporters marched from Lussier’s apartment building to the Minneapolis Police Department’s First Precinct. They asked police to investigate whether intimate partner violence had caused her death. Williams also raised concerns that Lussier’s substance use disorder could overshadow the reports of abuse. Source: MPR News, April 2024

The reported abuse before her death

Reporting on the 2026 complaint describes an on-and-off relationship lasting approximately three years and allegations of abuse dating to 2021. Those allegations provide the background for the investigation; they are distinct from findings made at a criminal trial. Source: MPR News, October 2026

The city’s after-action review found that Lussier made at least nine 911 calls alleging abuse in the nearly two years before her death. Most resulted in formal police reports. Reviewers said most of those reports described felony-level assault allegations, but only a small number led to further investigation and none resulted in criminal charges against Foss.

The review describes a February 13, 2024 report that Foss punched Lussier in the right temple and put an arm around her neck before leaving. When she called again on February 17 because he had returned, officers escorted him out rather than arresting him. Police relied on the elapsed arrest window for the earlier incident. Five days later, Lussier was found dead. Source: City after-action review, Lussier case summary

The medical findings and disputed overdose narrative

Lussier’s body was discovered in her apartment on February 22, 2024. The medical examiner identified an acute subdural hematoma, bleeding between the brain and skull, as her cause of death. The manner of death was undetermined. A medical cause and a manner of death are separate findings; an undetermined manner did not identify who caused the injury.

Toxicology identified fentanyl and methamphetamine. At the October 2026 charging announcement, County Attorney Mary Moriarty emphasized that the fatal injury, rather than an overdose, formed the basis of the prosecution. She said the injury’s acute nature helped investigators reconstruct the relevant timeline. Source: MPR News, October 2026

Why charges were not filed in 2024

Prosecutors received the case in June 2024 but said the evidence was insufficient to charge. Their office organized additional investigation with police and sheriff’s investigators, crediting family members and community supporters for their assistance. Source: Hennepin County Attorney’s Office

What the city review found

The city auditor presented the after-action review on April 22, 2026. It examined both Lussier’s case and the separate shooting of Davis Moturi. Across the two reviews, investigators examined approximately 49,000 pages, 75 hours of body-camera footage and more than 30 interviews; those totals were not solely for Lussier’s case.

The city’s published summary identified inconsistent review of case histories, failures to escalate or assign incidents, incomplete documentation and weaknesses in tracking repeated calls. It also described prolonged communication problems between police leadership and the county attorney’s office. Source: City of Minneapolis audit summary

MPR’s reporting on the review identified two specific problems in Lussier’s investigation: officers did not process the apartment as a crime scene, and MPD did not request the full medical examiner’s report until auditors sought it. The review also criticized premature or inaccurate public messaging. Its recommendations included better domestic-violence training, documentation and review of prior complaints. Source: MPR News, April 2026

Police apology and commitment to revisit the case

On April 14, 2026, then-Chief Brian O’Hara and police leadership met with Lussier’s relatives and invited community members. A department statement released the next day said the investigation remained open and promised a fresh examination of the evidence.

O’Hara apologized for publicly characterizing the drugs in Lussier’s system as “massive.” He acknowledged that his comments were based on incomplete information and had harmed the family. The statement also committed the department to improving its response to domestic violence. Source: Minneapolis Police Department, April 15, 2026

The allegations supporting the murder charge

FOX 9’s reporting on the complaint describes witnesses who allegedly heard Foss make incriminating statements. One said he expressed concern that he had killed someone. Another described seeing him wearing a wig and hearing him explain that police might be looking for him because he had beaten someone to death. A third reported that Foss said he had killed his girlfriend and left her in her apartment.

Prosecutors allege Foss was the last person to see Lussier alive. Moriarty said investigators narrowed the relevant timeframe to less than an hour. These are prosecution allegations and reported witness accounts, not a verdict. Source: FOX 9, October 22, 2026

Current case status as of October 27, 2026

Foss’s unrelated 105-month prison sentence is separate from this pending prosecution. FOX 9 identified that conviction as burglary and reported that he was imprisoned in Faribault.

October 22 reporting anticipated an initial court appearance the following week. The sources reviewed for this article did not independently establish whether that appearance has since occurred, what plea was entered, or a confirmed next hearing or trial date. Those details remain unverified here. No conviction or sentence in the Lussier case was verified during this review.

Case number: 27-CR-26-27418. Charging announcement | October 22 court reporting

The full criminal complaint and a current court register were not independently retrieved for this article. Complaint allegations above are attributed to the news outlets that reviewed the filing. The city review concerns institutional conduct and does not determine Foss’s criminal guilt. Foss is presumed innocent of the pending charges unless proven guilty.

Photo: Allison Lussier. Courtesy of Jana Williams, via MPR News.