Star Tribune
2nd teen charged in deadly shooting of St. Paul man who tried to stop break-in of wife’s vehicle
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.
“In here, it can be a very dark and lonely place, and it can be difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Benson said. “Events like this just help keep that hope alive.”
While the incarcerated people listened, they were joined at tables by prison staff, guards, the warden, and others, including Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell, who stood against a brick wall. A couple of inmates, who work as photographers for the prison’s newspaper, strolled the cafeteria taking pictures.
When the performance went longer than expected, the warden smiled and gave the performers a thumbs up. He was fine with letting it continue. When it was done, the musicians took a handful of questions and signed flyers. Then inmates were guided back to their cells.
Hennepin County Board candidate Marisa Simonetti was arraigned in District Court on Thursday morning on a misdemeanor charge of 5th-degree assault after a dispute with a tenant of her Edina home.
Simonetti, who was arrested and jailed in June on allegations that she assaulted the tenant by throwing a live tarantula and other objects at the woman, stayed in the court hallway Thursday while her attorney John Daly handled the routine appearance. Simonetti was given a Jan. 9 pre-trial date and plans to plead not guilty.
Wearing a campaign T-shirt, Simonetti said after the court proceeding that she’s done nothing wrong and plans to fight the charge “to the death.”
Simonetti said her campaign for the District 6 seat is going well and that she sent out “a ton of texts” last week. “We’re getting feedback, positive feedback. It’s going to be very exciting to see what happens on Nov. 5,” she said.
An email to Simonetti’s opponent, Commissioner Heather Edelson, was not immediately returned Thursday.
In April, Simonetti came in second in a six-candidate special primary for an open seat on the board and then lost the special election Edelson, a DFLer and former state representative. Simonetti has campaigned as a Republican, although some local Republicans have since pulled their support for her.
The board oversees the county’s $2.7 billion budget and 10,000 employees. Commissioners earn $122,225 annually.
District 6, which covers cities including Edina, Hopkins, Mound, Minnetonka, Wayzata, Long Lake, Shorewood and the northern portion of Eden Prairie.
“I wanted to be just like him, to love every part of the competition, to be the first to show up and the last to leave, to love the grind, to be your best when you don’t feel your best and make other people around you the best version of themselves,” Ionescu said. “And to wake up and do it again the next day.”
In her final season with the Ducks, Ionescu became the first NCAA Division I basketball player to record more then 2,000 career points, 1,000 assists and 1,000 rebounds. She dedicated the performance that put her over the edge to Bryant. “That was for him,” she told ESPN.
“I can’t really put it into words,” Ionescu said. “He’s looking down and really proud of me and just really happy for this moment with my team.”
Ionescu is a menace from behind the 3-point line like Steph Curry, Luka Doncic and Caitlin Clark
Ionescu has made more three-pointers during the regular season than any other WNBA player in history.
Ionescu’s clutch three might give Minnesota basketball fans deja vu. It was reminiscent of the three-pointer Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks sank in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals to win that game 109-108 and put the Timberwolves on their heels. The Mavs ended up winning the series 4-1.
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