Des Moines man convicted of murder in first homicide of 2022

A Polk County jury convicted Salifou Sahr, 23, of first-degree murder and other charges on Friday in the killing of a Des Moines man in January 2022. 

Trishay Marsean Thompson, 24, of Des Moines, was found Jan. 9 with gunshot wounds in his car at an apartment complex in the 1400 block of Pennsylvania Avenue. He died Jan. 27 at MercyOne Medical Center in Des Moines. Mr. Thompson’s death was the first homicide of 2022. 

Testimony showed that Mr. Thompson and two friends, Andrew Meyer and Alena Williams, had driven to the apartment complex after one of the friends had set up a drug sale using Facebook Messenger. After a series of communications, the transaction was canceled. Two men emerged from the apartment building and fired several rounds into Mr. Thompson’s vehicle, and then fled on foot. 

The jury found the defendant guilty of first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree robbery, and two counts of assault causing serious injury. 

First-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. 

The case was prosecuted by Assistant Polk County Attorneys Joe Crisp and Joseph Danielson, assisted by Lindsay Scott. Detective Ben Carter and other officers at the Des Moines Police Department investigated the homicide.