BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — Brooklyn Park is experiencing a wave of violence, including two different shootings over the weekend. One of those shootings was deadly and police are still looking for whoever is responsible.
It comes a little over a week after a teenage father was shot and killed at a home in Brooklyn Park.
Reese Crenshaw's family tells KARE 11 that the 19-year-old was shot at random at a birthday party.
The man accused of killing Crenshaw, Daniel Walker, is in jail and will be in court July 5 to face a second-degree murder charge.
His criminal history dates back 15 years, including multiple felony convictions. Crenshaw's family says the two didn't know one another.
"It makes no sense, at all," said Crenshaw's aunt, Allegra Sletten. "The whole night was very not like Reese, which makes it difficult, too."
Crenshaw had just graduated from Roseville High School on June 1. Sletten said he was determined and described him as an old soul who kept to himself.
According to court documents, the party was inside a garage at that Brooklyn Park home. Crenshaw was sitting at a card table when, "without provocation," Walker stood up, pulled out a gun and shot Crenshaw once in the chest.
Police arrested him later that night after he tried jumping off an apartment balcony just four miles from the crime scene.
"He always had the biggest smile on his face, like there's no way in hell you could ever see him and think of him as a threat," said Sletten. "He never should have had the opportunity to kill anybody or have a gun or be out on the streets," she said about Walker.
Walker's criminal history dates back to 2008 and includes convictions for traffic violations and robbery.
The documents say, in this case, Walker accused Crenshaw of trying to shoot him first because there was a $50,000 bounty on his life.
"Reese wasn't just out on the streets messing around or getting in trouble," said Sletten. "He was a really, really good kid."
She says he was also funny, loved songwriting and playing basketball, and "everything he did was for his daughter." At a time when crime may be spiking in some cities, families hope their loved ones aren't forgotten.
"Even though there is a lot of crime in one area or another, it's important to know that each life does matter," said Sletten.
A GoFundMe has been set up in Crenshaw's honor, with proceeds benefitting the loved ones he leaves behind.
Despite the shooting that killed Crenshaw, Brooklyn Park community leaders say a lot of progress has been made to curb violent crime in the city.
Police report a nearly 45% decrease in violent crime from last year at an apartment complex that used to see some of the highest amounts of crime in the city. They credit the police department and violence intervention groups.
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