More than two years after Allison Lussier was found dead in her North Loop apartment, Hennepin County prosecutors have charged her ex-boyfriend with second-degree unintentional murder and stalking. Charles Henry Foss, now 36, is accused of killing Lussier, 47, sometime between Feb. 18 and Feb. 22, 2024 — and of stalking her for roughly three years before that.
The criminal complaint, filed Oct. 22 in Hennepin County District Court, was announced by CBS News Minnesota, which reported Foss was charged Thursday with one count of second-degree unintentional murder and one count of stalking. According to MN Crime, Foss faced charges of second-degree murder without intent while committing a felony, alongside the stalking count, and had known Lussier for about three years. A building caretaker and manager discovered her body during a welfare check on Feb. 22, 2024, after which Minneapolis police responded and found her lying on a mattress in a disordered apartment with no one else present.
A Body Found Days After She Went Silent
Officers who arrived that day found Lussier appeared to have been deceased for several days, per MN Crime's account of the complaint. An autopsy determined her cause of death was an acute subdural hematoma on the left side of her skull, and noted several contusions on her body and right eye. The complaint reportedly said the acute hematoma indicated that death came quickly after the injury.
Toxicology findings in the case have been described differently across outlets. The Star Tribune reported that toxicology results listed recent fentanyl and methamphetamine use as a contributing factor, while KSTP reported that Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty confirmed drugs were not a factor in her death. The medical examiner, for its part, could not determine whether the death was a homicide or an accident, according to MPR News.
Warning Signs in the Days Before She Died
Court-complaint accounts describe a string of contacts between Lussier and police in the weeks before her death. On Feb. 13, 2024, a caretaker called 911 after Lussier reported being assaulted; she told the caretaker Foss had punched her in the head, made her remove her clothing, and put her in a chokehold, per the complaint. Officers documented injuries to her face that day, but Foss had fled the building before they arrived.
Four days later, on Feb. 17, Lussier called police again to report Foss was in her apartment and refusing to leave. Officers found him inside, escorted him out, and told him not to return — a detail MPR News reported came directly from the complaint. The building caretaker last communicated with Lussier around 5 p.m. that same day.
On Feb. 19, the caretaker placed a maintenance flyer under her door; it remained undisturbed until her body was found three days later, according to MN Crime's reporting. In between, on Feb. 18, Lussier and Foss exchanged messages about meeting up, with Lussier expressing a desire to avoid conflict. Foss used a friend's phone to message her that he was coming to meet her. Lussier was last heard from around 6:05 p.m. that day, and her phone and social media showed no further activity afterward.
Admissions and an Audit of Police Failures
The complaint alleges Foss was the last person to see Lussier alive and made admissions to friends after the fact that he had beaten or killed her, a detail reported by FOX 9. None of the allegations have been proven in court, as The Circle News noted in its coverage of the family's years-long push for charges. A judge has set bail at $1 million.
A city audit examined how the case was handled and found 22 issues, including that Lussier and people close to her had contacted police 12 times, per the Circle News report. Auditors said few of those calls led to investigations, none resulted in criminal charges, and opportunities to investigate stalking were missed. MPR News reported that responding officers did not treat Lussier's apartment as a crime scene and that police had not requested the medical examiner's report until auditors asked for it.
Separately, the Star Tribune's investigation found that surveillance footage from Lussier's apartment wasn't immediately requested, and a homicide investigator wasn't assigned to the case until five days after it began. MPR News reported that Minneapolis police now send an apprehension team to quickly arrest suspects in the most violent domestic violence cases. A 2025 city auditor's review, cited by KSTP, found that staffing shortages had contributed to delayed response times and hindered officers' ability to intervene and make arrests.
Where the Case Goes Next
Foss is currently serving an eight-year prison sentence for an unrelated burglary conviction, according to the Star Tribune. Foss also faces a stalking charge. The second-degree murder statute Foss is charged under carries a maximum sentence of not more than 40 years, according to the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes. Hennepin County is Minnesota's most populous jurisdiction, and the county attorney's office handles felony prosecutions across Minneapolis and 44 other cities, per MN Crime. Foss's case will proceed through the Fourth Judicial District, which presides over felony arraignments and trials at the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis.
Hennepin County is Minnesota's most populous jurisdiction, and the county attorney's office handles felony prosecutions across Minneapolis and 44 other cities, per MN Crime. Foss's case will proceed through the Fourth Judicial District, which presides over felony arraignments and trials at the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis.
