The area where an 18-year-old was found shot in Fridley. (FOX 9)
FRIDLEY, Minn. (FOX 9) - A 17-year-old boy admitted to fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend after an argument outside her home in Fridley, criminal charges said.
The teenager, from Fridley, was charged in Anoka County via juvenile petition with second-degree murder in the killing of his ex-girlfriend, 18-year-old Jayden Lee Kline, also of Fridley.
According to the criminal complaint, police responded to Kline's home on a report of an 18-year-old woman who was hit by a vehicle. Officers found Kline lying in the street outside of her home. She was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead, charges said.
Police spoke with Kline's mom and her brother. Kline's mom said Kline had been at the mall with her ex-boyfriend, noting he'd picked her up between 2-3 p.m. on Dec. 21, charges said. The brother said at about 3:57 p.m., while inside the home, he heard a loud noise coming from outside. He looked out the window and saw his sister lying in the street. A neighbor allegedly told the brother they saw a gold van speeding away from the scene, so the brother assumed Kline had been hit by the van, which he said belonged to Kline's ex-boyfriend.
The brother told police the ex-boyfriend and his sister had been dating on and off for about a year but Kline broke up with him because he lied to his family about their relationship, charges said. The brother tracked Kline's previous locations on Dec. 21 through an app called Life360. The app showed Kline's phone leaving her home at 2:41 p.m., traveling to Rosedale Center by 3:34 p.m. and arriving home at 3:56 p.m.
Neighbors confirmed hearing a loud noise and seeing Kline lying at the end of her driveway, charges said. A neighbor's doorbell camera footage showed the gold van driving slowly as it approached Kline's home, and then stopping at her driveway. Then, the van's front passenger door opened and a woman fell from the van. A gunshot rang out before the woman fell. The driver of the van then sped off, without hitting Kline.
The ex-boyfriend's mom owns the van, police confirmed.
Authorities pinged the teenager's phone in Burnsville, near Interstate 35W and Highway 13. At about 6:23 p.m., Burnsville police located the ex-boyfriend and the van at a gas station, with police stopping the ex-boyfriend after he left the gas station. A pistol was in the center console of the van.
The ex-boyfriend told investigators he and Kline broke up a couple of weeks earlier, charges said. He picked her up and went to the mall to shop, but then got into an argument in the van after leaving Rosedale. Kline was upset and they went back to her home, where she was still upset and arguing. The ex-boyfriend said the gun found in the van was his, and he got it a day before from an unknown person. He said he kept it in the center console of the van.
The ex-boyfriend said he thought he pulled out the gun when dropped Kline off, pointed it at her, pulled the trigger and drove off fast because he realized he had done something dumb. He said he was shaking as he drove away and dropped the gun in the van.
Police searched the van and found the gun. Police ran the serial number of the weapon — it matched a gun that was stolen in Marshalltown, Iowa.