Two teenagers have been charged with murder in connection with a drug-related robbery in St. Paul earlier this month.
Arthur A. McGraw, 16, and Rasheem S. Jones, 17, were charged Monday in juvenile court with second-degree murder in connection with the shooting of 19-year-old Marcus R. Johnson on Feb. 15. Charges allege the pair set a trap to rob their victim near the intersection of Ross Avenue and Kennard Street.
The County Attorney's Office said Tuesday it has petitioned the court to have both suspects tried in adult court.
According to the charges:
Business surveillance video showed Johnson get out of his car and walk toward a vehicle parked nearby that had been stolen a few days earlier in Oakdale.
The stolen vehicle soon sped from the scene, then returned. Jones and McGraw got out near where Johnson was on the ground, then ran from the scene as police began arriving.
Police searched trash from a home in St. Paul associated with one of the suspects and seized a glove similar to one recovered at the scene. A search of the home turned up bullets similar to casings collected at the scene of the shooting, drug residue and drug-related notes and a pipe.
On Thursday, the two suspects and an acquaintance were arrested after a short police pursuit that started near the home that was searched. The three crashed the car into a tree, this time with a different stolen vehicle.
The acquaintance, who has not been charged, said Jones and McGraw had planned to rob Johnson, "but it went wrong, and they had shot [him]," the charging documents read.
The two also told the acquaintance they pulled out their guns while trying to rob Johnson, but he pulled up his shirt and showed a gun of his own. The pair shot Johnson, stole two baggies with marijuana and smoked it the next day.
Jones told an investigator that he shot Johnson twice, and McGraw shot him once. When questioned about the shooting, McGraw requested an attorney and declined to answer.
According to Johnson's online obituary, he is survived by his parents and two siblings. Johnson had created a clothing brand called Splash Supply and was active in his church, his family said.
