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2nd teen charged in deadly shooting of St. Paul man who tried to stop break-in of wife’s vehicle

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A second teen has been charged in the deadly shooting of a St. Paul man who attempted to stop someone from rifling through his wife’s vehicle in front of the family’s home.

Ta Mla, 18, of St. Paul, was charged Thursday in Ramsey County District Court with aiding and abetting second-degree intentional murder in connection with the May 6 shooting of Michael Brasel, 44, in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood.

Mla remains jailed in lieu of $2 million bail and is due back in court on July 12. A message was left Friday with his attorney seeking a response to the allegations.

His co-defendant, 17-year-old Kle Swee, of St. Paul, was arrested May 10 and charged on May 12 with second-degree intentional and unintentional murder. Prosecutors have said they intend to have Swee, who remains in custody, charged as an adult.

Family members said Brasel was trying to prevent his wife’s SUV from being broken into before the father of two and youth hockey coach allegedly was shot by Swee multiple times.

The charges against Mla say he was the one who was going through the vehicle when Michael Brasel grabbed him from behind and Swee, acting as a lookout, responded with gunfire.

” ‘My bad, bro,’ ” Mla told police was Swee’s response immediately afterward, the charges read. ” ‘I didn’t mean to.’ “

Investigators put Mla, who has a criminal history involving guns as a juvenile, at the scene by testing for DNA on a small camouflage bag recovered by police from the SUV’s front seat. Mla’s DNA was found on the bag, the charges read. He was found and arrested on Tuesday in St. Paul.

According to the criminal complaints:

Brasel’s wife, Hilary Brasel, said he saw someone rummaging through her car. Brasel’s son told investigators he heard his dad yell, ”What are you doing?” before gunshots rang out. The boy looked outside and saw a male get in a vehicle and speed away.

Hilary Brasel went to her wounded husband and started chest compressions and called for help as onlookers phoned 911. Brasel’s wife said someone apparently had rifled through the car and placed items from the center console on the driver’s seat.

Investigators reviewed neighbors’ camera footage and saw the suspected vehicle leaving the crime scene. Officers pieced together a call to Lauderdale police earlier that day about a similar vehicle there that lost its bumper while swerving to avoid a stopped car. Officers recovered the bumper with a Minnesota license plate that was registered to a 2009 Honda coupe.

Swee was arrested with a Honda key in his pocket and declined to speak to law enforcement. Officers found the Honda in Swee’s garage with no front bumper.



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Star Tribune

Spree of Minneapolis homeless encampment shootings reignites debate on response philosophies

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A wave of shootings at homeless encampments at Minneapolis in recent weeks, leaving four people dead and at least four more seriously injured, has relit a long-simmering clash between city officials and advocates over one of the city’s most vexing problems.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other city leaders say the spree of shootings and other violence associated with encampments is driven by the drug fentanyl. Advocates who regularly provide outreach to the local unhoused community say the greater focus should be directed at the fundamental causes of homelessness if the city has any hope of solving the public safety problems at the camps.

Three shootings have occurred in three south Minneapolis encampments over a span of two weeks. On Friday, a man and woman were shot in an encampment in the 2200 block of Cedar Avenue S. close to Hiawatha Avenue.

“It’s an ongoing tragedy in our city, and we are seeing gun violence play out in many, many places, and particularly neighborhoods less resourced and communities of color that are bearing that gun violence,” said John Tribbett, a service area director with the nonprofit Avivo which operates a tiny home village inside a North Loop warehouse for people experiencing homelessness.

Around 13% of all crime in the city’s Third Precinct, and 19% of that area’s gun violence, happens within 500 feet of encampments, Police Chief Brian O’Hara said in late October. He and Frey were holding a news conference close to one of the shooting scenes. At the time, Frey told reporters that crime near encampments is “not about a lack of shelter” or “even most of the time about a lack of housing.” The mayor said drug trafficking and drug use at encampments have been the largest factors.

“Is (fentanyl) the only thing? Of course not, but it is a major driver,” Frey said in an interview days after the shooting. “I think we’ve got to be honest, and we’ve got to be real about it, otherwise we’re not going to make progress on the issue.”

According to Frey, encampments can also be a site for human trafficking.

The recent shootings have rattled nearby homeowners and renters, some of whom said they have been scared to leave their homes. Quantina Jones, who lives near the site of the triple fatal shooting that happened Oct. 27 close to the train tracks on Snelling Avenue, said she would frequently find drug paraphernalia left on her property, witness public defecation and hear gunshots.



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Man whose murder conviction vacated after 16 years is freed, and speaks publicly for the first time

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“They were my support from day one,” Barrientos-Quintana said.

Tina Rosebear, one of Mickelson’s sisters, met Barrientos-Quintana Tuesday to lend her support and agreed with the decision to set a wrongly jailed man free.

“We got justice for Edgar,” she said. “I hope any situation like this gets fully investigated so this never happens to anybody ever again You got this. I am happy for you.”

Added Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, “Nothing can give Mr. Barrientos-Quintana back those 16 years, and for that, we are so sorry. Our hearts are also with the family of Jesse Mickelson over their irreparable loss. When the criminal legal system does not function ethically, it causes significant harm.’’



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Man gets probation for being drunk when he crashed UTV in MN and killed passenger

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A 53-year-old man has been sentenced to probation for being drunk when he crashed his utility terrain vehicle in southern Minnesota and killed his passenger.

Lance E. Leiferman of rural Mapleton, Minn., was sentenced Tuesday in Blue Earth County District Court to three years’ probation after pleading guilty to criminal vehicle operation while under the influence of alcohol in connection with the crash shortly before midnight on Sept. 15, 2022, near County Road 7 and 105th Street that killed Susan M. Quiram, 59, of nearby Elysian.

Judge Mark Betters’ sentence includes the opportunity for Leiferman’s conviction to be reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor if he abides by all the terms of his probation, which includes abstaining from alcohol and illicit drugs and attending a drunken-driving impact panel.

Leiferman told a police officer at the scene that he and Quiram were out for a ride in the side-by-side UTV when she yelled “hole!” She was thrown from the vehicle into the hole, and the UTV landed on top of her. He tried in vain to get the UTV off of Quiram before running for help.

Leiferman admitted having too much to drink, estimating that he had five to eight beers over the course of the day.

He submitted to a preliminary breath test about 1:25 a.m. Friday , 2 to 2½ hours after having his final beer and it registered his blood alcohol content at 0.06%. That’s within the legal limit. However, his degree of intoxication at the time of the crash likely was above 0.08%, the state’s legal minimum to be considered drunk while driving.



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