Dying 11-year-old helps police find accused killer of mom, sister, Minnesota cops say
A 26-year-old man faces several charges following a tragic shooting in Minnesota that left a child, teen and mother dead, police say.
Police responded to a St. Paul home Saturday afternoon after a neighbor reported hearing about 10 loud pops before seeing people run from the home, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
When police arrived, the caller said three people were inside and that “there was blood everywhere,” KSTP reported.
Officials soon found the body of La’Porsha Wallace, 14, blocking the entrance into the home, the Duluth News Tribune reported.
Once officials were able to get inside, they found D’Zondria Wallace, 30, lying face down on the couch, according to the outlet. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
Autopsies later revealed that D’Zondria Wallace had been shot twice and La’Porsha Wallace had been shot 10 times, WCCO reported.
Ja’Corbie Wallace, 11, was also found at the home, breathing but unconscious. An officer noticed the boy had been shot in the back, KSTP reported.
Police said first responders asked Ja’Corbie who had shot him to which he replied “Keith,” explaining that the man was D’Zondria’s boyfriend, according to KSTP.
The boy was taken to a hospital where he received emergency surgery, the News Tribune reported. He died later that day.
An autopsy found he’d been shot five times, WCCO reported.
Officials collected 14 shell casings from the scene, according to KSTP.
What happened?
An hour before the incident, police said an officer was called to the home because a family member had requested a welfare check on a woman at the residence, the Star Tribune reported.
Police said the woman, later identified as D’Zondria Wallace, answered the door and told police she was fine, according to the outlet. The officer asked Wallace if she wanted to call her family herself, but police said she declined.
“Every homicide is hard, but this is especially a tough one,” Sgt. Mike Ernster said during a press briefing, the Star Tribune reported. “It’s tough because it involves kids and we had an officer at the home an hour before this call.”
Following the shooting, a family member told police that D’Zondria Wallace had been dating “a very short man named Keith who had tattoos all over his upper body,” KSTP reported.
Police said surveillance video from a nearby home showed a man peeking outside the home before running to a 2015 Jeep Compass about 30 minutes before the bodies were discovered, according to the outlet. The Jeep had damage to the front passenger-side bumper.
A state trooper spotted the vehicle on a highway later Saturday. The driver told the trooper he’d run out of gas, WCCO reported. The trooper told the driver he’d get help, but when the trooper returned, the driver was gone with the Jeep’s keys laying in the driver’s seat, according to the outlet.
The Jeep’s owner told police a man known as Santana — later discovered to be an alias of Tekeith Jones, 26 — had taken the vehicle and that she’d dropped Jones off near the St. Paul home earlier in the day, WCCO reported.
Officials located Jones and arrested him Sunday, KSTP reported. Police said he was found to have a handgun with an extended magazine in a bedroom closet.
Jones told police he’d been in Minnesota for several months and that his brother had recently been killed, according to the News Tribune.
Documents indicate that Jones told police he was “going through a life experience that he didn’t understand,” adding that he was “going to save someone so they wouldn’t have to go through what he did,” according to the outlet.
He also told police he felt he’d been framed for his brother’s death, KSTP reported.
After telling officials he hadn’t seen D’Zondria Wallace for weeks, police say Jones admitted to shooting the Wallaces to save the children because their mom was “playing mind games and corrupting the kids,” according to the News Tribune, adding, “I saved them — they can go up there and be holy.”
Jones is also accused of telling police that he’s “not a monster” and that he “kissed them all,” KSTP reported.
Jones is charged with three counts of second-degree murder, according to WCCO.
