Teen suspect in fatal shooting of St. Paul boy to be released
St. Paul mother grieves son killed in shooting
Her sons were at their grandmother’s home on St. Paul’s Stinson Street when the family says the boys found a gun left unattended and began to play with it over the weekend. But then tragedy struck when, according to the family, Markee’s 14-year-old brother accidentally shot his younger brother.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Denisha Hill is living the worst week of her life, after her 12-year-old son Markee was shot and killed on Saturday.
"I’m still in shock. I still feel like this is a dream, because I see this type of stuff all the time, [but] I never in 1 million years thought it would be me," Hill told FOX 9. "My name is on the news, my kids are on the news, their faces are on the news.
Her sons were at their grandmother’s home on St. Paul’s Stinson Street when the family says the boys found a gun left unattended and began to play with it over the weekend. But then tragedy struck when, according to the family, Markee’s 14-year-old brother accidentally shot his younger brother.
"I know it was an accident, and I know he would never hurt his brother," Hill said on Tuesday.
Over the weekend, authorities kept her 14-year-old son behind bars at the Ramsey County Juvenile Detention Center, the family says, on pending manslaughter charges.
Then on Tuesday, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office issued this statement: "After a careful review of the evidence presented by law enforcement in connection to a shooting incident on August 5, 2023, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office (RCAO) returned the case file to the Saint Paul Police Department for further investigation. At this stage in the investigation, there is not sufficient evidence to proceed with a charging determination. The RCAO will make a charging determination at a future date should additional investigative information become available. Based upon this decision by the RCAO, the youth will be released from custody."
"That took a lot off my shoulders," Hill said. "I was visiting him and talking to him, and he wasn’t doing well in there."
But even with her son now back at home, the family still has a long road ahead.
"It’s going to be a long healing process: therapy, I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure he’s good," Hill finished.
The family continues to demand that the person who left the gun unattended immediately surrender themself to law enforcement.