ST PAUL, Minn. — A young man has pleaded guilty for his role in the murder of a St. Paul man during a drug deal, a crime that started a chain of events that led to the fatal shooting of Amir Locke by police.
Feysal J. Ali admitted his guilt to being an accomplice after the fact in the shooting death of Otis Elder in late January of 2022. His associate and the man who pulled the trigger, 19-year-old Mekhi Speed, is currently serving a sentence of just over 16 years for Elder's death.
Ali was originally charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the case after investigators found his DNA in the getaway car and traced Ali's phone to the murder scene. His deal calls for the 18-year-old Minneapolis man to serve a sentence of 48 months with credit for jail time served.
Formal sentencing in the case is scheduled for March 27, 2024.
Otis Elder, 38, was fatally shot the evening of Jan. 10 during what police say was a drug transaction gone wrong. St. Paul homicide investigators had identified Speed as their suspect in Elder's murder and traced him to a unit at the Bolero Flats Apartments in downtown Minneapolis. They asked Minneapolis police to serve a no-knock warrant early the morning of Feb. 2, 2022, in an attempt to take Speed into custody. SWAT personnel forced their way into the apartment and saw Locke, the suspect's cousin, lying on a couch in the living room. Minneapolis police officer Mark Hanneman said he opened fire after seeing Locke reaching for a gun, killing the 22-year-old.
Mekhi Speed was not in the apartment at the time the search warrant was executed.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) investigated the shooting and turned the case over to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman and Attorney General Keith Ellison, who decided there was not enough evidence to charge Hanneman or any other officer in Locke's death.
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