ST PAUL, Minn. — Police in St. Paul have identified the two men gunned down in a double homicide in the city's Frogtown neighborhood Saturday night.
The victims, identified by police Monday as 34-year-old Larry Jiles Jr. and 37-year-old Troy Kennedy, died after a shooting on the 500 block of Dale Street North on Feb. 25 that injured three other people.
Jiles, also known as "Chef Hot Hands," was a popular chef in the Hugo and Centerville areas.
"To know Larry 'Chef Hot Hands' was to know a stand-up man. My Brother, my friend my heart in human form was a man of God," Chanel Jiles wrote on a GoFundMe page collecting money for his family. "We know that Larry was loved by a lot of people and he truly loved you back."
Police believe the shooting broke out around 5:15 p.m. after a celebration of life ceremony. Investigators said an "altercation" occurred after the event, and shots were fired in the parking lot.
No arrests have been made yet in connection to the shooting, which resulted in the city's fourth and fifth homicides of 2023. Two of the people who were injured, a man in critical condition and a woman considered to be in stable condition, are being treated at Regions Hospital. Police said another woman was taken to United Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Centerville mayor D. Love remembers Jiles' energy when he presented his cafe idea to the city council.
"That passion just leaked over into everything else he wanted to do," Love said.
Jiles opened "Chef Hot Hands" with a place for his kids to play rather than indoor dining.
He specialized in "intimate entrees" -- specials that customers could pick up. Food they weren't accustomed to, but loved.
"You would look at his menu and think, these aren't things you can eat in Minnesota usually. How do you make it something people come back for? And he was wildly popular and wildly successful," Love said.
Jiles was very active in the town of less than 4000 people -- participating in city festivals and events, volunteering, and spreading his energy to others. Centerville is now mourning.
The fatal shooting marked the second night of violence in the city over the past weekend. On Friday, Feb. 24, three teenagers were shot at the funeral reception for St. Paul Harding student Devin Scott, who was fatally stabbed at school earlier this month.
"To have officiated a funeral service yesterday - then to have five people shot, two people to die at the repast is very disheartening," Reverend Runney Patterson told KARE 11 on Sunday. "The message I preached this morning was that the Lord hear us and help us."
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