A 16-year-old boy, who is already in jail, was charged Tuesday with shooting and killing a man in St. Paul in mid-October.
The teenager is facing two counts of second-degree murder, according to the juvenile petition filed in Ramsey County District Court. St. Paul resident Marcus Darnell Miller, 24, died in the shooting, and prosecutors are seeking to try the teen as an adult, which would mean a more severe sentence should he be convicted .
Police responded Oct. 11 to reports of 15 to 20 gunshots and a man shot in the stomach around 6:35 p.m. near the intersection of Edmund Avenue W. and Grotto Street N.
Officers found Miller lying next to his car, slipping in and out of consciousness, with a gunshot wound in his back chest area, according to the charging document. Miller was transported to Regions Hospital where he was pronounced dead a little before 7 p.m.
Several witnesses, including Miller's girlfriend, told officers they were walking to Willard's Liquor when a vehicle with two young men wearing facemasks inside drove onto the sidewalk and cut them off.
The occupants of the vehicle had handguns and one of them searched Miller's pockets.
They told Miller he owed people money, and the driver began shooting at Miller, according to the court filings. As he ran away, both suspects continued to shoot at Miller.
Miller fell to the ground twice as he fled and then collapsed by his vehicle. The two suspects returned to their car and fled through an alley.
Officers found 9mm bullet casings in the area, according to the charging document, and surveillance camera footage showing a blue Kia SUV, previously reported as stolen, cutting off Miller before the shooting.
Additional footage showed the Kia SUV parked on Wayzata Street W., where the suspects entered and then left seven minutes later in different clothing, according to the charges.
A post on the teen's Facebook page post six days after the shooting said, "He tried ta run and he tripped," along with an emoji for a ninja assassin.
On Nov. 2, police searched the house on Wayzata Street and found the sweatshirt they believe the teenager was wearing during the shooting. He was arrested that day after fleeing police in a car, according to the charges.
In an interview with officers, who suggested the murder was not supposed to happen that way, the teen allegedly said, "It wasn't supposed to happen at all."
The Star Tribune is not naming him because he is a juvenile.