A teenager admitted that he fatally shot his ex-girlfriend with a stolen gun inside his van parked outside her Fridley home, dumped her out of the vehicle and sped away, according to a charging document filed Tuesday.
Fenan A. Uso of Fridley was charged by juvenile petition in Anoka County District Court with second-degree intentional murder in connection with the shooting Thursday afternoon of Jayden L. Kline, 18, in the 4500 block of NE. 3rd Street.
Uso, who attended Fridley High School, appeared in court late Tuesday morning and remains in custody before another hearing on Jan. 5. A message was left with his attorney seeking a response to the allegations.
The County Attorney's Office has indicated to the court that it intends to have Uso prosecuted in adult court, where any sentence upon conviction would be more severe than in juvenile court.
According to the charging document:
Fridley police were dispatched shortly before 4 p.m. regarding what initially was reported as a hit-and-run crash and saw Kline on the pavement on the street near her family's driveway. Law enforcement soon determined that Kline had been shot. Emergency medical responders took her to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Kline's mother told police that her daughter had been at the mall with Uso that afternoon.
Brandon Kline, Jayden's older brother, shared with police that he heard a loud noise and looked out a window and saw her down on the street.
The brother added that Jayden Kline and Uso had been dating on and off for about a year, but she broke it off because he lied to his family about the relationship.
A neighbor shared exterior surveillance video showing a van pulling up to the Kline home. A gunshot rang out, the passenger door opened, and Jayden fell to the pavement.
Brandon Kline saw the video and confirmed to police that Uso drives that van, which is registered to Uso's mother.
Police tracked Uso's cellphone to a gas station in Burnsville. Police stopped him as he left the gas station and saw a handgun in the center console.
Uso told police that he and Jayden Kline broke up about two weeks earlier. He said he picked her up to go shopping at Rosedale, and they argued on the drive back from the mall.
He admitted grabbing the gun he obtained a day earlier and shooting Jayden Kline once before speeding away.
"He said he drove off fast because he realized he did something dumb," the charging document read.
Police investigators checked the gun's serial number and learned that it had been stolen in Marshalltown, Iowa, about 240 miles south of where it was used to kill Jayden Kline.
Kline graduated in June from Columbia Heights High School, where she was on the synchronized swim team.
"She was so very, very proud of that," recalled Cynthia Goren, who lives next door to the Klines. "It's so sad. One day they are there and then they are not."
