Star Tribune
St. Paul man shot romantic rival following escalating feud
A St. Paul man is charged with murder for his alleged role in a shooting that was the culmination of an escalating feud with his girlfriend’s estranged husband.
The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office charged James Edward Hagen, 32, with second-degree murder Wednesday. Prosecutors believe Hagen shot and killed Jonathan Diaz, 35, of St. Paul who was found in lying in a yard in the 800 block of York Avenue with multiple gunshot wounds on the evening of July 1. Hagen’s next court hearing is Friday.
According to charging documents, fights between Hagen and Diaz escalated months before the shooting.
Officers first responded in August 2023 to the same address in the 800 block of York Avenue for reports of a shooting. They found Hagen with bullet wounds to both legs, but he denied knowing who the shooter was or why they fired at him. But Hagen’s girlfriend, referred to as “CD”, said Diaz shot Hagen out of jealousy.
CD later explained that she is married to Diaz, although they separated four years ago. She has dated Hagen for the past three years, and said that he and Diaz “don’t get along.”
Diaz was arrested the day after that shooting. He wasn’t charged because Hagen did not cooperate and prosecutors could not prove a case against Diaz without a reasonable doubt.
Police responded to another shooting at that home on July 1. There they found CD performing CPR on Diaz, who was lying near a garage door in a pool of blood. Diaz was unconscious. He had no pulse and stopped breathing. Officers helped Diaz until medics arrived, but they pronounced him dead at the scene.
Witnesses said Hagen shot Diaz and fled on a bicycle before ditching it to run on foot. Witnesses also said a white Cadillac circled the area after the shooting.
Investigators canvassed the scene and found nine bullet casings — seven inside the garage and two outside. A 9mm handgun with an empty magazine was also found in the garage, and examination suggests it fired the bullet casings recovered from the scene.
A woman referred to as “KA” said she was friends with Diaz, and claimed to be with him moments before the shooting. KA said she and Diaz drove past the York Avenue home earlier that day, and Diaz greeted his son who was outside the home. Diaz picked up KA in a white Cadillac later, returning to the York Avenue home where he asked KA to drop him off. She said gunshots rang as she drove away.
“KA tried to call [Diaz] to see if he’s okay, and she eventually left the area in the white Cadillac,” the charging documents read. “After the shooting, KA saw a white male with facial hair running in the neighborhood and looking behind him as if someone was chasing him.”
CD’s teenage daughter said she saw the incident, but did not want to get her mother in trouble because she believed the mother was not honest about the shooting. When interviewed at police headquarters, away from her mother, CD’s daughter said had Diaz shot Hagen at the same home before — and that Hagen threatened to kill Diaz the next time he saw him.
The daughter claimed to be in the kitchen with CD when they heard 10 loud bangs. Running outside, she said Hagen stood in the garage doorway near Diaz. Diaz was on the ground and shaking. The daughter thought Hagen shot Diaz, and said CD ran towards Diaz as Hagen yelled “I told you I was going to kill him!” She said Hagen fled on a bike afterwards, but was unsure if he took a gun with him. She believes Diaz was unarmed.
Police also interviewed CD’s teenage son, who heard the pops as he cleaned the bathroom. He heard his mother screaming outside, said he ran outside to see Hagen panic and leave on a bike.
When interviewed by police, CD said Hagen and Diaz don’t get along. She said Diaz drives past her York Avenue home to see his son, but Hagen found out and began arguing with her. She said Hagen left after they argued, and she heard bangs outside sometime later. CD said she went outside and found Diaz dying on the ground, but denied seeing Hagen there.
Police arrested Hagen during a July 2 traffic stop. An autopsy by the Ramsey County Medical Examiner found Diaz died from six gunshot wounds to his body. He marked the 14th homicide this year. According to a Star Tribune database, there were 18 by this time last year.
Two people from Minnetonka were killed late Friday afternoon when their GMC Suburban ran a stop sign and was struck by a GMC Yukon headed north on Hwy. 169 west of Palisade, Minn.
According to the State Patrol, Marlo Dean Baldwin, 92, and Elizabeth Jane Baldwin, 61, were dead at the scene. The driver of the Suburban, a 61-year-old Minnetonka man, was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The Suburban, pulling a trailer, was headed east on Grove Street/County Rd. 3 at about 5:15 p.m. when it failed to stop at Hwy. 169 and was struck by the northbound Yukon. The Yukon then struck two westbound vehicles stopped at the intersection.
Four people from Zimmerman, Minn., in the Yukon, including the driver, were taken to HCMC with life-threatening injuries, while two passengers were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Three girls in the Yukon ranged in age from 11 to 15.
The drivers of the two vehicles struck by the Yukon were not injured, the State Patrol said. Road conditions were dry at the time of the accident, and alcohol was not believed to have been a factor. All involved in the accident were wearing a seat belt except for Elizabeth Baldwin.
Hill City police and the Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office assisted at the scene.
Amid the cacophony and chaos of the pregame preparation before a recent Minnetonka High School football game, an exceptional group of six girls is gathered together among the school’s deep and talented cheerleading and dance teams.
The cheerleaders, a national championship-winning program of 40 girls, dot the track around the football field. As the clock ticks down to kickoff and their night of choreographed routines begins, the six girls, proudly wearing Minnetonka blue T-shirts emblazoned with “Skippers Nation” and shaking shiny pom-poms, swirl around the track, bristling with excited energy.
Their circumstances are no different from any of the other cheerleaders with one notable exception: The girls on this team have special needs.
They’re members of the Minnetonka Sparklers, a squad of cheerleaders made up solely of girls with special needs.
A football game at Minnetonka High School is an elaborate production. The Skippers’ recent homecoming victory over Shakopee brought an announced crowd of 8,145. And that is just paying attendees; it doesn’t include school staffers, coaches, dance team, marching band, concession workers, media members and others going about their business attached to the game.
The Sparklers program, now in its 12th season, was the brainchild of Marcy Adams, a former Minnetonka cheerleader who initiated the program in her senior year of high school. Adams has been coach of the team since its inception, staying on through her tenure as a cheerleader at the University of Minnesota.
She started the program after experiencing the Unified Sports program at Minnetonka. The unified sports movement at high schools brings together student-athletes with cognitive or physical disabilities and athletes with no disabilities to foster relationships, understanding and compassion through athletics. Many Minnesota schools offer unified sports.
“I grew up in a household that valued students with special needs and valued inclusion,” Adams said. “I saw a need to give to those students. At Minnetonka, we have a strong Unified program, and this was a great opportunity to build relationships and offer mentorship opportunities.”
Elite runners are in a league of their own.
To get a sense of how far ahead elite runners are compared to the rest of us, the Minnesota Star Tribune took a look at how their times compare to the average marathon participant.
The 2022 Twin Cities Marathon men’s winner was Japanese competitor Yuya Yoshida, who ran the marathon in a time of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 28 seconds, for an average speed of 11.96 mph. He averaged 5 minutes and 2 seconds per mile.
That’s more than twice the speed of the average competitor across both the men’s and women’s categories, of 5.89 mph, according to race results site Mtec. The average participant finished in 4 hours, 26 minutes and 56 seconds. That comes out to an average time of 10 minutes and 11 seconds per mile.
And taking it to the most extreme, the fastest-ever marathon runner, Kelvin Kiptum of Kenya, finished the 2023 Chicago Marathon in 2 hours and 35 seconds, for an average pace of about 13 mph. Kiptum averaged 4 minutes and 36 seconds per mile.
Here is a graphic showing these differences in average marathon speed.
