MINNEAPOLIS — Editor's Note: The video above originally aired on KARE 11 on Feb. 10, 2022.
A 16-year-old from Minneapolis is facing two second-degree murder charges in connection to the death of 38-year-old Otis Elder in St. Paul on Jan. 10. Elder's case prompted police to obtain the no-knock warrant that led to the death of Amir Locke.
The teenager is the second person charged in connection to Elder's death. On Feb. 8, the St. Paul Police Department confirmed 17-year-old Mekhi Speed was arrested in Winona, booked on probable cause second-degree murder, and was held in the Ramsey County Juvenile Detention Center.
Court documents say Speed is Amir Locke's cousin.
According to a criminal complaint, investigators first identified the 16-year-old suspect after they lifted his fingerprint from the suspected Mercedes-Benz seen on camera fleeing the scene of Elder's homicide. The stolen car was parked at the Lexington parking ramp, near the Bolero Flats apartment complex in downtown Minneapolis, just hours after Elder's death, and left there until investigators located it on Jan. 21.
Security video from the parking ramp showed four males get out of the car on Jan. 11, one of whom was wearing a Tommy Hilfiger jacket. On Feb. 2, that jacket was recovered from one of the units inside Bolero Flats, where Speed and his mother were listed as residents, when Minneapolis police executed several search warrants on behalf of the St. Paul police department.
Using cell phone data, investigators also placed the teenager near the scene of Elder's murder minutes before someone called 911 to report the shooting. The suspect's phone was also traced to a cell phone tower near the Bolero Flats apartment building at the time the Mercedes was dropped nearby, according to the criminal complaint.
On Feb. 18, the documents say a report from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension found that the major DNA profile found the blue Tommy Hilfiger jacket matched a known DNA sample from the 16-year-old suspect.
According to another criminal complaint, the teen has a criminal history and was charged with felony burglary in December 2021.
Ramsey County authorities are seeking to have the 16-year-old tried as an adult in the case, similar to their earlier motion to try 17-year-old Mekhi Speed as an adult as well.
Elder's fiancé Princess Evans said Elder was an innocent victim and was planning to attend his daughter's 4th birthday party the night he was killed.
"Otis was an amazing guy, an amazing father. He loved his children, he was an amazing brother, son, friend," she said.
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