"I’m Not the One" - Mahdi Ali shares 11 years after his conviction

The 2010 shooting at the Seward Market and Halal Meat in Minneapolis led to the conviction of the two alleged shooters - Ahmed Ali and Mahdi Ali. However, a Fox 9 investigation led to new revelations in the case as Mahi Ali's life term was questioned with the existing physical evidence, witness statements, and legal reasoning.

While Ahmed Shire Ali testified against Mahdi Ali which led to his sentence, he later admitted to framing Mahdi for the killings on January 6, 2010. Mahdi Ali is serving a 90-year sentence at Oak Park Heights, Minnesota’s maximum-security prison.

Mahdi shared with Fox 9,

"I’m not the one. I hope they (the victims’ families) find justice. I hope they find answers. But, I’m not the one."

The See No Evil Season 12 Episode 8, Too Much Video, aired on Investigation Discovery on February 28, 2024, at 9 p.m. EST, depicted the incident that took place back in 2010. The synopsis reads,

"In 2010, three men are murdered in a convenience store in Minneapolis's Somali community; the store's CCTV system uncovers evidence of a robbery gone wrong, and footage from cameras around the city could offer clues to the killer's identity."

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Why was Mahdi Ali arrested? Details explored

On the night of January 6, 2010, three men were murdered inside the Seward Market on Franklin Avenue as they were caught in a robbery that turned into an incident of gun violence. The entire incident was captured on surveillance video which showed two men, walking into the store at 7:44 p.m. - one was armed

The men ordered the two store clerks, Mohamed Warfa and Osman Elmi, to lie on the ground while one of the intruders went to the back of the store to rob two customers. However, the situation was interrupted when another customer, Anwar Mohammed, walked into the store prompting one of the men to shoot him in the head.

The gunman then shot Warfa and tried to flee the establishment with his accomplice. The footage showed him return to the market a few seconds later to shoot Osman Elmi who was then placing a 911 call.

The Minneapolis Police Homicide Unit arrested both Mahdi and Ahmed as suspects of the case. Ahmed Ali testified against Mahdi saying he had fired all three rounds and was the alleged gunman who was seen in the surveillance footage. Ahmed was sentenced to 12 years as part of his plea deal while Mahdi was sentenced to life in prison.

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Details of Mahdi Ali's alleged False Conviction explored

Ahmed Ali spoke to Fox 9 investigators and admitted to framing Mahdi Ali in a crime that he was allegedly not involved in. He shared,

"I was protecting someone else. And he (Mahdi) ended up taking the fall for something he didn’t end up doing."

Ahmed claimed that the killer was a different person who had passed away from a drug overdose a couple of years ago. Meanwhile, Mahdi had mentioned spending the night of January 6 with his friends, Ahmed and Abdisalan Ali, driving around and smoking cannabis.

Mahdi shared that he returned home to his grandmother's Riverside Apartments residence around 10:30 p.m. and witnessed the crime scene. Ahmed's cousin, Abdisalan, allegedly gave an account of the killings to one of his classmates despite having mentioned to the police that he was dropped off before the robbery took place.

The detectives found a single drop of blood on the cuff of Mahdi's jeans which matched majorly to Mohamed Warfa's DNA profile along with matches to three other people. Mahdi was convinced that the evidence was either planted on him or was a laboratory mix-up.

Mahdi Ali was resentenced with 30 years each for three counts of murders after the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Alabama vs. Miller.