Star Tribune
Suspect found not guilty in robbery, death of St. Paul man
A man suspected of helping to rob and murder a St. Paul man behind his home last year has been acquitted.
Shaun Lamar Travis, 26, was found not guilty Friday for aiding and abetting the murder of 22-year-old Alex Becker. His defense lawyer Robert Plesha declined to comment on the verdict.
Becker was found shot to death yards from his home on Dec. 27, 2022. Travis was arrested months later on suspicion of helping two others to rob and murder Becker. Those suspects, 21-year-old Arteze Kinerd and 19-year-old Detwan Allen, have been charged with second-degree murder.
Opening statements for Allen’s trial were Dec. 7. Kinerd’s trial is set to start Feb. 26.
Travis’ trial began in late October with testimony from Becker’s parents, neighbors and from authorities who responded the night of his murder. Prosecutors said Becker’s murder was senseless, and argued that Travis helped to ensure his death.
Evidence published during the trial sought to prove that, playing footage of Travis’ confession that he was at the murder scene that night with Kinerd and Allen. Becker was walking home from a late shift at work when Travis, Kinerd and Allen passed by in a black sedan. The three got out of the sedan and are seen on security footage following Becker into an alley that leads to his home.
Additional footage captured the sound of gunshots, followed moments later by the black sedan leaving the scene.
When interviewed by police, Travis said he heard the gunshots and was close enough to feel his ears ring — but did not see who fired. Plesha argued during the trial that his client didn’t know the others would rob and kill Becker, explaining that Travis thought they were out to buy marijuana. The shock of the shooting was so much that Plesha said Travis threw up in the car.
“He couldn’t have anticipated what would happen,” Plesha said during opening statements. “It was done suddenly without any provocation”
Becker was shot six times and found with no pulse or breath near his family’s garage. His mother Tara Becker was awake waiting for him to return, crying on the stand as she testified to hearing the gunshots that killed him. She said Alex was a kind person who befriended everyone he knew, adding that he was not known to get into trouble.
On social media, Becker said she was disappointed in Friday’s verdict.
“To say I am disappointed in the judge is a gross understatement. He spoke to Travis as if he was lecturing a young person for skipping school,” Becker’s post said. “I hope Travis takes this enormous gift the judge handed him and starts making efforts to make the world a better place instead of taking good away from the world.”
Allen’s jury trial continues Monday at 9 a.m.
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.
