A 22-year-old man has received a 21-year sentence for fatally shooting a man during a drug deal in a St. Paul home that was occupied by the victim's fiancée, her mother and a number of children.
Brian D. Booth, 22, of St. Paul, was sentenced Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the death on July 6, 2021, of Kiefer M. Morgan, 30, in the 1100 block of Pacific Street. He was arrested two days later in Ames, Iowa.
With credit for time in jail since his arrest, Booth can expect to serve about 12 ½ years in prison and the balance on supervised release.
Booth's criminal history in Minnesota includes two convictions for robbery, and one each for financial card fraud and auto theft.
According to the charges:
Police arrived at about 6:40 p.m. and found Morgan on the dining room floor. They also saw a bag of marijuana on the living room floor.
Morgan's fiancée said three males came to the home asking for marijuana. One came inside while the others waited outside, she said. She went upstairs and soon heard gunfire. She came downstairs, saw Morgan had been shot and began CPR.
She said he had been speaking to someone about a marijuana purchase on a phone that police later determined was Booth's.
The fiancée's mother saw Morgan talking with a man in the kitchen. Morgan walked the man to the front door and let him out. She said Morgan then let inside one of the other men. Morgan and the man were making a marijuana deal, she said.
As the fiancée's mother went to tend to her grandchildren in the living room, two of the males began kicking an exterior door. She said she grabbed a chair and tried to block the door. As the door was being kicked, shots were fired. The grandmother hustled the children into the back bedroom as Morgan was shot five times including twice in the chest.
