Minnesota man pleads guilty in pregnant girlfriend’s murder case

Saleebaan Mohamed Abdirisaaq pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in the killing of his pregnant girlfriend, Falus Ali, putting the Benton County case on a straight path to sentencing. The plea, entered July 13, 2026, covers second-degree intentional murder and second-degree felony murder of an unborn child, and the court has set sentencing for November 25, 2026.

Second-degree murder in the state carries a maximum sentence of 40 years on each count.

Ali was 24 years old and 17 weeks pregnant when she was stabbed inside a St. Cloud apartment on September 23, 2025. Abdirisaaq used a knife he found in the dishwasher, then called 911 and told dispatchers that someone had died, adding that police should “just come see.” When officers arrived at the East Germain Court apartment complex just before midnight, they found Ali on the floor with blood and stab wounds to her neck, shoulders, arms, chest, left breast and jaw. She and the unborn baby were later pronounced dead at the hospital.

Ali suffered 34 stab wounds. Abdirisaaq told officers, “It’s me. I’m right here,” as they arrived. The couple’s 3-year-old child was in the home and later described the assault, and Abdirisaaq’s brother told police that he had called to say he had killed his wife with a knife.

He had been convicted in February 2025 in Sherburne County of violating a Domestic Abuse No Contact Order, and he was arrested in Hennepin County in September 2024 for making threats of violence against Ali. Ali had been granted a domestic abuse no-contact order against him in Sherburne County, and a separate restraining-order matter had been filed in Hennepin County the previous September.

The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office prosecuted the case at the request of the Benton County Attorney’s Office. Attorney General Keith Ellison said the crimes were “shocking and horrifying,” and said his heart broke for Ali’s family, friends and loved ones.