Finn Murdock, contributor

On Sept. 23, 23-year-old Fiqremariam Kidus Dereje Zewde left his home in Rosemount, Minnesota, at 3 p.m. to go play soccer at the Burnsville Soccer Center. Later in the day, Zewde was found deceased in a wooded area near his house by the Rosemount Meta Data Center. Upon the Rosemount police department’s initial investigation, no foul play was suspected. Zewde was found outside his car with a head injury consistent with a gunshot wound and a gun was discovered at the scene. However, the identification of the owner of the weapon has not been released and Zewde’s family asserts that he did not own a gun. Zewde’s time of death was reported as 11:31 p.m., but no other information from the autopsy has been made available at this time. 

The nature of the injury led the Rosemount police department to believe it was self-inflicted, despite the fact that Zewde’s family does not believe that Zewde would have taken his own life. Hawi Awash, Zewde’s aunt, stated that her nephew was on track to graduate from the University of Minnesota’s construction management program, and that he had been lining up a job for after graduation. Awash spoke with community radio station Power 104.7 and said, “I find it so challenging that someone who has all of that lined up would do something to harm himself…he was in the best shape of his life, so all of this makes it just more worrisome.” 

Awash also voiced concerns about the potential lack of thoroughness in the investigation due to potential issues related to the handling of evidence in the case. One such concern arose after Zewde’s car was swiftly returned to the family and not taken in by police officials. Rosemount police claim that their search of the car and premises was completed the night that Zewde’s body was found. There are also questions about the lack of indication from Rosemount police that they have secured or reviewed any footage from the area. The presence of the Rosemount Meta Data Center makes the location a high surveillance area, so there is a reasonable assumption that there would be some security camera footage available to help determine what happened.

While the Rosemount police department has not yet concluded their investigation, they have not released any further statements that contradict their initial findings. Zewde’s family has created a GoFundMe to raise funds for a more comprehensive examination of the uncertain circumstances surrounding Zewde’s untimely passing. An updated description on the GoFundMe page states, “While we still don’t have any answers as to what exactly happened to our beloved son, brother, nephew, and friend, we are working with community leaders and experts to encourage an investigation with integrity that honors the life of Kidus.”