A second teenager was charged in a homicide case that led to the Minnesota police shooting of Amir Locke during a no-knock warrant raid earlier this month.
The unnamed 16-year-old boy was charged in Ramsey County juvenile court on two counts of aiding and abetting second-degree murder in a homicide case that led authorities to the fatal encounter with Locke.
OFFICER WHO KILLED AMIR LOCKE ACCUSED OF ‘CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS’ VIOLATIONS IN PRIOR RAID
A spokesperson for the St. Paul Police Department confirmed the charges against the teenager to the Washington Examiner but declined to name him because he is a juvenile. The spokesperson also said the individual is not in custody yet. Prosecutors have requested a warrant for his arrest.
Authorities claim that the 16-year-old’s cellphone was located near the scene of the homicide, his DNA was found on a jacket in the car used in the shooting, and his fingerprints were found in the car, USA Today reported.
Otis Elder, 38, a father of two, was shot near St. Paul on Jan. 10. Video of the incident showed two people approaching Elder’s vehicle before the shooting took place, according to court documents. The motivation for the shooting is unclear, but witnesses told officials they believed he may have been engaging in a drug deal, according to court documents. The shooting of Elder triggered a police investigation into his death.
In early February, police raided three apartments while searching for Locke’s cousin, Mekhi Speed. Locke, a 22-year-old black man, was in one of the apartments during the raids. The apartment was registered to the girlfriend of Speed’s brother. When Minneapolis police executed a no-knock raid of the apartment Feb. 2, Locke had his gun out as a SWAT team entered the premises and was shot, body camera footage revealed.
St. Paul police announced Feb. 8 that they arrested Speed and charged him with two counts of second-degree murder for the shooting of Elder.
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Locke was not named in any of the search warrants for the raids police conducted during their investigation of Elder’s death. There has been no evidence presented to show that he was connected to the homicide. News of the shooting of Locke triggered protests in Minneapolis over the use of no-knock warrants and police brutality.
The officer who shot Locke was put on administrative leave in response to the incident. There were at least two incidents in which the officer was accused of engaging in an illegal search and seizure during prior investigations.
