MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A former MMA fighter accused in two Texas slayings is one of two people charged in the death of a woman who was abducted from a Minnesota domestic violence shelter 11 years ago, authorities said Monday.
Cedric Marks, 45, of Killeen, Texas, has been charged in Hennepin County with second-degree murder in the 2009 slaying of April Pease, who was the mother of one of his children. Kellee Sorensen, 34, of Lynden, Washington, faces a similar charge.
Marks and Pease were allegedly involved in a custody dispute.
Marks is also suspected in the strangling deaths of his ex-girlfriend and another man in Texas last January, authorities said. Marks and Sorensen originally found Pease at a shelter in Washington State, after which time Pease was transferred to a Bloomington, Minnesota shelter, court documents show. The two suspects tracked down Pease in Minnesota and took her against her will.
Marks told Sorensen he killed Pease and removed her hands and teeth so she couldn’t be identified, according to court documents. It’s unclear from the complaint whether her body was ever discovered, but one of Marks’ wives told police it was buried somewhere in one of the Dakotas.
It’s unclear if Marks and Pease have lawyers in the Pease case.
Marks compiled a record of 31-28-0 during his professional MMA career, which began in 1999, according to mixedmartialarts.com. His last fight was in 2018.
