Man tied to shooting death of Sioux Falls man enters not guilty pleas

A Sioux Falls man, who investigators identified as the suspect in a downtown homicide, has entered pleas for the charges against him.

Edward Leon Brinkley, 39, pleaded not guilty Monday to second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and possessing a firearm after a prior violent crime conviction.

This comes after an investigation into the death of Richard Alexander Sowers, 28, of Sioux Falls, who was found with three gunshot wounds in an upstairs hallway at 2:17 a.m. March 17 in an apartment building at 232 East 12th St..

Brinkley, who was later charged in connection with the shooting, was arrested without incident about 17 hours afterward. Sowers died at a hospital as a result of the wounds, according to an affidavit.

The Sioux Falls man also denied the state's habitual violent offender designation.

Brinkley was convicted in 2005 of simple robbery and kidnapping, both felonies, in Hennepin County, Minnesota. He was also convicted in 2020 of aggravated assault, also a felony, after attacking two people with a pocket knife outside PAve in downtown Sioux Falls two years prior.

Brinkley is being held on a $1 million cash bond in the Minnehaha County Jail. He made his first appearance on March 19 and was ordered to have no weapons, no contact with the witnesses and no contact with the victim's family.

Witnesses and surveillance video helped identify Brinkley, Sioux Falls Police Lt. Aaron Nyberg told the Argus Leader March 19. At the time, he said the investigation is still ongoing and police are determining the nature of the two men's relationship and what a possible motive existed for the homicide.