Father of two identified as South St. Paul shooting victim; two suspects arrested

Nick Ferraro, Pioneer Press
·2 min read

South St. Paul police have arrested two suspects in Friday’s killing of a 26-year-old man who was found shot in the street on the city’s south end.

Avontae Troy King of South St. Paul died of a gunshot wound to the chest, Police Chief Brian Wicke said Monday.

A 22-year-old St. Paul man was arrested just after 3 a.m. Saturday, while a second suspect — a 20-year-old Cambridge man — was taken into custody Sunday morning, according to police and Dakota County jail records.

Both suspects have been booked on suspicion of second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree murder, and are scheduled to go before a judge for possible formal charging at noon Tuesday.

“Our investigators, as well as investigators with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, worked pretty much nonstop throughout the weekend,” Wicke said. “There are two people in custody for homicide, and we’re continuing to investigate the circumstances related to the murder.”

Police received a call reporting shots fired in the 400 block of Third Avenue South about 4:50 p.m. Friday. When officers arrived, they found King shot and lying near the shoulder of the road. He was pronounced dead at Regions Hospital in St. Paul.

“The entire incident took place in the street,” said Wicke, who would not give a possible motive or additional details of the killing, citing the investigation.

Wicke said “we are not in a position” to say whether they are looking for other suspects.

King was a father of two boys, ages 4 and 2, according to public records in Anoka County. The documents list King’s address as the same block where he was killed.

Over the weekend, the children’s mother wrote about the killing on Facebook, calling it “senseless” and asking, “Anyone have advice on how to explain death to a 4-year-old? I don’t know how to do this … he saw everything happen but he keeps saying ‘mommy I hope daddy is okay.’ … Watching your child reenact how his daddy got shot is by far one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to process.”

In another post, she wrote: “I promise you I got these boys forever & I promise that they will always know how much their dad loved them.”

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