A 22-year-old south metro man has been charged with fatally shooting a suspected gang rival in the back of the head in St. Paul and injuring his 4-year-old son as the two sat in an SUV.
Jeremy Carpenter of Inver Grove Heights was arrested Tuesday and charged later in the week in Ramsey County District Court with second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder in connection with the shooting of 23-year-old Jeriko D. Boykin of St. Paul on Oct. 6 on the city's West Side.
Carpenter remains held in lieu of $1.5 million bail ahead of a Nov. 7 court hearing.
According to the complaint:
Police were called to the 400 block of S. Wabasha Street about a vehicle that flipped and landed on its roof. Boykin was in the driver's seat and gravely wounded, while his son was in a back seat and shot in the foot.
At least 12 shell casings were found near the SUV, which showed numerous bullet holes.
Witnesses provided police with descriptions of a suspect and his getaway vehicle. Police tracked down the driver, who acknowledged being behind the wheel when the man he knew as "Insane" left his car, approached the SUV on foot and opened fire. St. Paul gang unit officers determined "Insane" was Carpenter.
The driver said "he believed the shooting was motivated by East versus West gang conflict," the charges read.
Last Tuesday, police stopped a vehicle in the 300 block of Annapolis Street for a suspected equipment malfunction and saw Carpenter in the back seat. He denied any involvement in Boykin's death and was arrested.
As a teenager, Carpenter was convicted of robbery and later as being a felon in possession of a firearm.
