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A drug-induced night and a minor argument with friends resulted in Cheyenne Clough's death three days after the 19-year-old mother was found fatally wounded outside Crow Springs County Park. An investigation revealed that a group of friends, comprising five individuals, were responsible for the teen's murder. Three men from the same circle planned her attack, while two executed the vicious plan.
In the days following Clough's death, six individuals -- Shawn Benson, Justin Jensen, Natasha Brandenburger, Callie Anderson, Edward Zelko, and Thomas F. Nicholson -- were arrested for their roles, whether direct or indirect, in the murder of the teen mom. Brandenburger and Anderson were never charged, but the remaining suspects were charged and handed prison terms soon after.
An upcoming episode of Mean Girl Murders on ID will revisit the tragic death of Cheyenne Clough from a few years ago. The episode, titled Minnesota Vicious, is scheduled to air on Monday, April 24, at 9:00 pm ET. The synopsis for the episode says:
"Minnesota teen mom Cheyenne Clough is over the hallway dramas and petty jealousies of high school; she finds acceptance in a new crowd by moving in with two gals and their boyfriends, but after Cheyenne gets her own beau, distrust leads to death."
Cheyenne Clough's murder: A threat, a vicious murder plan, and other details to know about the 19-year-old mother's death
1) Clough allegedly threatened to get one of her friends arrested, causing an argument
Reports state that in late May 2016, Cheyenne Clough, a 19-year-old mother, was staying at her friend Justin Jenson's Maple Lake house along with a few others, including Shawn Benson, Natasha Brandenburger, Callie Anderson, and Clough's boyfriend, Devon Boyles. They were known to be drug abusers, often indulging in LSD and methamphetamine.
On May 31, Jensen allegedly had Clough's boyfriend arrested on a warrant, following which Clough threatened to call the cops on Anderson, who also had an outstanding warrant on her. The threat led to an argument between Clough and the others present in the house at the time and even led to a physical altercation between the young mother and Brandenburger.
2) Cheyenne Clough's friends believed she was a "snitch" and decided to do something about it
Clough's threat to have one of them arrested made her friends believe that she was a "snitch" and was likely to cause trouble for them, given that they had previously committed several crimes, including stealing.
Justin Jensen, whose house they were all at, instructed two other friends, Edward Zelko and Shwan Benson, to murder Clough after the three injected meth in the early morning hours of June 1, 2016.
3) Benson and Zelko drove the 19-year-old to a park where they shot her
According to reports, Jensen provided Edward Zelko and Shawn Benson with a .22 caliber handgun, which they had previously stolen from a house in Delano. Both Zelko and Benson, under the pretense of taking her home, drove Clough to Crow Springs County Park where they assaulted her before shooting her multiple times before returning to Jenson's house.
Residents in the area reported hearing gunshots and screams sometime around 3:00 am in the early morning of June 1.
4) Cheyenne Clough was found barely alive near the park's entrance
Around 8:00 am on the morning of June 1, 2016, Clough was found unresponsive, barely clinging to life with multiple gunshot wounds, near the Crow Springs County Park entrance.
Three days later, she succumbed to her injuries at at Robbinsdale's North Memorial Medical Center. A subsequent autopsy revealed that she was shot four times with a .22 caliber gun in the back of the head, neck, and shoulder.
5) Six were arrested for their direct or indirect roles in Clough's death, but only four were charged
Six individuals, namely Shawn Benson, Justin Jensen, Natasha Brandenburger, Callie Anderson, Edward Zelko, and Thomas F. Nicholson, were arrested not long after the 19-year-old's death.
Reports state that all suspects were arrested near the Canadian border while attempting to flee. While Anderson and Brandenburger were not charged, Benson (the alleged shooter), Jensen, and Zelko were each charged with second-degree murder related charges. Nicholson was later charged with felony for aiding an offender to avoid arrest.
Watch the new episode of ID's Mean Girl Murders this Monday, April 24, at 9 pm ET.
