A 43-year-old St. Cloud man is accused of killing a man and dumping his body near St. Cloud Regional Airport, according to a criminal complaint filed in Sherburne County District Court.
Ricco Dejon Tyson was charged with one felony count of second-degree murder, one felony count of first-degree manslaughter and one felony count of second-degree manslaughter. He made his first appearance in court Monday.
According to the complaint, the sheriff's office responded to a report of a dead body near 55th Avenue and 10th Street SE., just east of St. Cloud, on Nov. 14.
The body was later identified as 25-year-old Tyler Ecklund. A medical examiner listed the cause of death as a gunshot wound to the head and listed the manner of death as a homicide.
Investigators learned Ecklund sometimes stayed at a residence on the southeast side of St. Cloud; while executing a search warrant at the residence, officials found blood in a detached garage.
A woman at the residence said Ecklund had borrowed her 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe but she didn't know where it was. The vehicle was later found after Minneapolis police issued a parking citation for the vehicle near an address associated with Tyson.
Investigators reviewed surveillance video showing Tyson pawning a speaker box and leaving in the Tahoe. Officials obtained the box and found a bloodlike substance on the box.
Tyson was arrested Dec. 9 on a different matter in Wright County. He told investigators he struck Ecklund in the head with a handgun during an argument inside a vehicle near Munsinger Gardens in St. Cloud. He said as he struck him with his gun a third time, it fired.
Tyson told officials he dumped the body near a site where he had previously camped and threw the firearm into the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.
Tyson was previously convicted of third-degree and fifth-degree drug possession and check forgery.
On Monday, a judge set bail at $2 million without conditions and $1 million with several conditions, according to a Sherburne County news release.
Tyson's next court appearance is scheduled for April 12.
Jenny Berg • 612-673-7299
Twitter: @bergjenny
