Mother, son, and victim's girlfriend charged in connection to North St. Paul shooting
(FOX 9)
NORTH ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - The victim's girlfriend, along with a mother and son, are facing charges connected to a deadly shooting in North St. Paul this week.
Nineteen-year-old La Vida Rose Martinez and 19-year-old Steven Terry are both charged with second-degree murder in the shooting Monday evening at an apartment complex off McKnight Road between 7th Avenue East and South Avenue East. Terry's mother Kimberly is also facing a firearm charge for possession of a gun without a serial number.
Police responded shortly before 6:15 p.m. on June 19 for the report of a man with a gun and someone yelling "He's dead! He's dead!"
In his apartment, officers found the victim, a 24-year-old man, lying on the ground in a hallway with a gunshot wound to the head. Officers found open, empty gun safes, a 3D printer, a money counter, ammo, and rifle magazines in the apartment. In the charges, police say it appeared the victim had been using the 3D printer to make lower receivers for handguns. Police also say that thousands of dollars in cash, which were seen in social media posts that the victim put up before the shooting, was also missing from the apartment.
Shortly after the shooting, police found a bag of ghost guns ditched around the corner from the murder scene.
In the charges, police were able to connect Martinez, the victim's current girlfriend, and her ex-boyfriend Terry to the shooting scene after speaking with a family member of the victim. The family member also told police some had fired a shot at the victim's vehicle in the days before the shooting. The charges also indicate two minors were at the scene when shots were fired.
Steven Terry spoke with police saying, according to the charges, that Martinez had brought him to the victim's apartment and had been "feeding him Gabapentin pills" – a nerve pain medication that is sometimes abused recreationally. Terry claimed he left the scene before shots were fired because he suffered a panic attack.
The charges state that an informant told police that the group had intended to just rob the victim of the ghost guns, but one of the teen boys shot the victim instead.
It's unclear if either minor is currently in custody.
The charge against Kimberly Terry stems from a gun found in a bag when Kimberly and Steven Terry were arrested. The charges state Kimberly claimed she had found the gun – despite protests from her son.