Star Tribune
Teen ordered to stand trial as adult for fatal Mall of America shooting
A teenager was ordered this week to stand trial for murder as an adult in connection with a fatal shooting at the Mall of America the day before Christmas Eve.
Lavon Longstreet is accused of shooting 19-year-old Johntae Hudson inside the Nordstrom department store at the mall. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office charged him and an accomplice with second-degree murder and assault while two other teens face riot charges for their role in the fight that turned to gunfire. At the time of the shooting, Longstreet was 17 years old and six weeks away from turning 18.
Surveillance video shows the suspects chasing Hudson, of St. Paul, through the store before Longstreet and TaeShawn Adams-Wright, 18, stood over him and fired multiple shots.
Longstreet fled the state and Bloomington police issued a warrant. Authorities arrested him in Georgia three weeks after the shooting.
Ever since, parties have argued whether his case should proceed in juvenile or adult court. In a hearing Monday, Judge Bruce Manning sided with prosecutors.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty filed an official motion soon after taking office to have Longstreet certified as an adult, which was the direction the case was headed under the previous administration.
“Our goal is to protect community safety based on the unique circumstances of each case,” Moriarty said in a statement. “Mr. Longstreet played a lead role in a brazen shooting that left one person dead and endangered the lives of many others at the Mall of America. Given his age and role in the murder we will prosecute this case through the adult system.”
According to the charges:
Hudson was shot eight times shortly before 8 p.m. on Dec. 23, 2022. He died at the scene and police recovered his firearm that they say he fired twice.
Longstreet is shown chasing and tackling Hudson before a struggle ensued. Then he and Adams-Wright are shown holding firearms and running toward Hudson.
Longstreet pointed a gun toward Hudson, and the video shows a muzzle flash. Adams-Wright took a shooting stance over Hudson, while Longstreet also stood over him.
Meanwhile, customers and employees took cover. A bullet grazed one woman and she later found a bullet hole in her coat.
Adams-Wright’s trial is slated for September. He and Longstreet remain in custody. A trial date for Longstreet has not been set.
In a separate, nonfatal shooting at the Mall of America’s Nike store in August, 23-year-old Rashad May was charged with second-degree assault and aiding an offender to avoid arrest. He pleaded guilty this week to aiding his accomplice, Shamar Lark.
In exchange, prosecutors dismissed May’s assault charge. He will be sentenced June 27.
“You’ve got to be able to say, ‘Here’s how much we want to spend, and here’s what we want the impact to be,’” Carter said.
During the council meeting, Johnson, the Ward 7 council member, alluded to those statements, saying people have used such language to try to discredit women in leadership, especially young women. This is the first budget from St. Paul’s new all-women council.
Staff writer James Walsh contributed to this report.
After months of maintenance problems and safety concerns in downtown St. Paul’s Lowry Apartments, city officials condemned the building, forcing dozens of tenants to abruptly relocate to hotels this week.
On Monday afternoon, city staff responded to a plumbing leak in the 11-story building at 345 Wabasha St. N. Officials reported significant damage and signs of vandalism, including copper wire theft that left electrical systems exposed. The leak also raised concerns about mold.
To make repairs, the building’s water must be shut off — a move that would leave tenants without boiler heat and fire sprinklers, Deputy Mayor Jaime Tincher said in a Tuesday email to state Rep. Maria Isa Pérez-Vega and City Council Member Rebecca Noecker, who represent the area.
After determining heat and water could not be restored quickly, Tincher wrote: “There was no other option than to conclude the building was not safe for residents to stay.”
Property manager Halverson and Blaiser Group (HBG) agreed to provide alternative housing for tenants for up to 30 days, Tincher said. City staff worked with Ramsey County’s Housing Stability team and Metro Transit to help 71 residents pack and move.
Before then, the building belonged to downtown St. Paul’s largest property owner, Madison Equities. After the January death of the company’s founder and longtime principal, Jim Crockarell, the dire state of the group’s real estate portfolio became apparent.
The Lowry Apartments, the sole property with a high concentration of low-income housing, quickly became the most troubled. Residents reported frequent break-ins, pest infestations, inoperable elevators and more, to no avail.
Star Tribune
Metro Transit allocated $12 million to boost security, cleanliness on Twin Cities light rail and buses
They will be soon. With more money to spend, Metro Transit plans to bring on 40 more this year. With their ranks growing, TRIP agents, clad in blue, have recently started covering the Metro C and D rapid transit lines between Brooklyn Center and downtown Minneapolis.
The big investment in public safety initiatives comes as Metro Transit is seeing an uptick in ridership that plunged dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been slow to recover. This year ridership has been a bright spot, the agency said.
Through October, the agency has provided 40.1 million rides, up 7% compared with the first 10 months of 2023. In September, the agency saw its highest monthly ridership in four years, averaging nearly 157,000 rides on weekdays, agency data shows.
At the same time, crime is down 8.4% during the first three quarters of 2024 compared to the same time period last year, according to Metro Transit Interim Police Chief Joe Dotseth. However, problems still persist.
On Nov. 29, Sharif Darryl Walker-El, Jr., 33, was fatally shot on a Green Line train in St. Paul. Just a week earlier, a woman was shot in the leg while on the train and taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Earlier this year, a robbery attempt on the Green Line in St. Paul left a passenger shot and wounded.
“Our officers are spending time on the system and sending a clear message to everyone: Crime will not be tolerated on transit,” Dotseth said. “And we will work to ensure those commit those crimes are held accountable.”
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