Two teens are charged with murder after an attempted carjacking and robbery led to the fatal shooting of the driver.
A criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County Court says one of those teens is a 16-year-old from Coon Rapids who was charged with two counts of second-degree murder, one with intent and the other without.
Investigators say the 16-year-old suspect was committing aggravated robbery when he shot 39-year-old Steven Markey of Maple Grove. Markey's car then accelerated and crashed into a building. Hennepin County prosecutors filed a motion to prosecute him as an adult.
The second teen, a 15-year-old male, was charged in juvenile court. The attorney's office also filed a motion to have him certified as an adult, but since he is under 16 it will be up to the judge to decide.
“These two juveniles committed at least two crimes that day and because of excellent investigations by Minneapolis and New Hope Police departments, these two youths were arrested and currently face charges in the juvenile court system,” Deputy Hennepin County Attorney David Brown said.
Here is the sequence of events that investigators say led to the murder, and the arrest of the two suspects after an alleged crime spree.
Markey was in his parked car near the intersection of 14th Avenue NE and Tyler Street NE about 4:50 p.m. on June 11, when the two juveniles attempted to rob him and steal his car.
The 16-year-old told Markey to exit the car, but teen saw Markey reach for something and shot him. More shots were fired and Markey drove away, eventually crashing into a building. The Maple Grove man later died from multiple gunshot wounds.
The suspects ran through alleyways on Tyler Street, where they hid a backpack that was later recovered by police. The backpack contained two guns.
After 8 p.m. the same night, a Honda CRV was stolen from a home on 28th Street in St. Louis Park, according to a second petition filed against the 16-year-old. Then at around 2:25 a.m. June 12, New Hope police responded to a cell phone store where a burglary was taking place.
Officers saw someone run from the business and jump into the passenger side of the Honda CRV. The car sped off, squads pursed and the driver soon lost control and crashed through a fence near the ramp for U.S. 169 North.
The teens were subsequently arrested. Besides murder, the 16-year-old is also being charged with third-degree burglary, motor vehicle theft and fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle, for the offenses that occurred after the first incident.
