A 17-year-old boy has admitted to displaying a handgun to several teenagers in a Columbia Heights apartment and fatally shooting a 15-year-old girl.
Damico Jamal-Tokyo High of Minneapolis pleaded guilty Wednesday in Anoka County Juvenile Court to second-degree manslaughter in connection with the shooting of Derryanna D. Davis of Columbia Heights shortly before midnight on March 24, when he was 16 years old.
The case is being deemed an extended jurisdiction juvenile prosecution, meaning High will receive sentences in juvenile and adult court. If he fails to fulfill the terms of the juvenile sentence, an adult prison sentence of 4¾ years would take effect.
In an extended jurisdiction juvenile prosecution, sentencing terms are determined by probation and court officials in the county where the defendant lives. In High's case, that is Hennepin County, which will determine how long he will stay in a juvenile correctional facility and the length and conditions of probation based on recommendations from Anoka County.
According to the prosecution:
A 911 call sent police to an apartment in the 3900 block of NE. 3rd Street, where they found Davis in a bedroom with a gunshot wound to her left side. Emergency responders declared her dead at the scene.
Police seized a handgun in the apartment. Sheriff's deputies determined there were eight teenagers ages 14 to 17 in the apartment at the time of the shooting.
Earlier that evening, High and five of the teenagers were at a fast-food restaurant, where High and another teen were showing off guns.
Once at the apartment, according to several of the teenagers, High "was playing with the gun, swinging it around and pointing it at the group," the charging document read. "Others recall that Damico was only pointing the gun at [Davis]."
High had removed the clip from the gun, but there was still a round in the chamber, charges said. Two teenagers told detectives that High asked to be dared to shoot.
High hit Davis with one shot, sending many of the teenagers fleeing.
