Prosecutors Charge Shorewood Mother With Murder

A death investigation that began last week culminated in official murder charges being filed Monday against a 29-year-old Shorewood woman.

Neighbors described the still unidentified man's body as being frozen in a sitting position as it was to an ambulance last Wednesday. Court documents filed Monday in connection with the charges filed against JeTaun Wheeler detail how police found the body at the bottom of a storage freezer. Bloody carpet was also found in the home on the 5700 block of Wood Duck Circle.

The victim has not been identified, but Wheeler is expected to appear in court Tuesday to answer second-degree murder charges.

Wheeler and the victim are said to have been in an ongoing relationship, and Hennepin County authorities have yet to locate her three children.

The following statement was issued by South Lake Minnetonka Police Department Chief Brian Litsy late Wednesday. Jail records confirm that Jetaun Wheeler is the individual taken into custody at the home on suspicion of murder.

"Earlier this afternoon, the South Lake Minnetonka Police Department (SLMPD) executed a search warrant at 5700 Wood Duck Circle in the City of Shorewood. This was part of an ongoing investigation involving an adult male who had been reported missing to the South Lake Minnetonka Police Department. A deceased person was discovered during a search of the residence which is suspicious in nature. A person of interest in the disappearance of the missing person is currently being held pending further investigation by the South Lake Minnetonka Police Department, Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office. The South Lake Minnetonka Police Department does not believe members of the community are at risk."