John Jefferson
Left inset: Monique Baugh (Estes Funeral Chapel). Right inset: Elsa E. Segura (Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The location where Baugh was lured to her death (KMSP).
A former probation officer from Minnesota learned her fate after admitting to using a “burner phone” to lure a real estate agent and mother of two to her death under the guise of what turned out to be a sham house-showing appointment.
Elsa E. Segura, 31, was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday in the kidnapping and murder of Monique Baugh, 28. The sentence was read after Segura pleaded guilty to kidnapping to commit great bodily harm/terrorize, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said in a press release.
The agreement called for an upward departure from the sentencing guidelines based on the particular cruelty of the crime and the involvement of three or more perpetrators, prosecutors said.
But the victim’s family was left heartbroken. While Segura was previously convicted and sentenced to life, the Minnesota Supreme Court overturned the conviction, with a majority of justices finding that botched jury instructions possibly contributed to her conviction, despite there being enough evidence to show that Segura participated in the kidnapping and murder.
Segura’s plea came before she was set to be retried.
“She sits in there, and she figured out how to get shorter time,” Lucille Baugh, the victim’s aunt, told local Fox affiliate KMSP through tears. “She should feel that for the rest of her life. Her family should feel it for the rest of her life.”
“Not one time … you apologize,” she added. “Not once, but you can sit, and you can figure out how to get your time cut short. That’s not acceptable.”
In the press release, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said Segura played a significant role in the case, and her 20-year prison sentence holds her accountable for her actions.
“Our hearts continue to be with Ms. Baugh’s family as they are undoubtedly still grieving her loss, knowing that nothing can bring her back,” Moriarty said.
The series of events leading to Baugh’s killing started over two days leading up to New Year’s Eve 2019 in a complicated revenge scheme against Baugh’s boyfriend, a recording artist in a dispute with Segura’s romantic partner and co-defendant, Lyndon Akeem Wiggins. As Law&Crime previously reported, Baugh’s boyfriend testified the dispute was related to a music label partnership while Segura claimed the dispute was related to drugs.
The scheme took place after Segura, a former Hennepin County probation officer called and texted Baugh numerous times using a “burner phone,” authorities said. Segura posed as a potential client interested in a vacant home for sale. When Baugh arrived for the showing on Dec. 13, two men, Cedric Berry and Berry Davis, kidnapped her, bound her with duct tape, and confined her in the cargo area of a moving truck.
The two then drove to the victim’s home in Minneapolis, used her key to get inside and shot her boyfriend multiple times in front of the couple’s two young daughters, then 3 and 1, prosecutors said. Baugh’s boyfriend, who survived the shooting, called for help. About an hour later, Baugh was shot three times with the same gun and left in a Minneapolis alley to die, prosecutors said.
Berry and Davis were convicted of murder in 2021 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. A fourth defendant, Shante Berry, Davis’ sister and Berry’s wife, got probation for aiding an offender, officials said. Wiggins’ conviction was also reversed and he faces a retrial, prosecutors said.
Law&Crime’s Alberto Luperon contributed to this report.
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