Four Charged in North St. Paul Shooting Homicide
Officers on a perimeter in North St. Paul after the homicide June 19, 2023. MN CRIME PHOTO
Three of the suspects
Formal charges filed against four people allegedly involved in a fatal North St. Paul shooting reveal that the 24-year-old victim was 3D-printing “ghost guns” and the suspects dropped two bags of firearms as they fled the murder scene.
According to court documents, at around 6:13 p.m. on Monday, June 19, officers were sent to the apartment building on the 2100 block of McKnight Rd. N. for a report of a male with a handgun near one of the apartment units. A woman had reportedly banged on an apartment door and yelled, “He’s dead! He’s dead!”
Officers made entry into the apartment and found a black shotgun and a bulletproof vest on the hallway floor leading up to the back bedrooms. Further down the hallway, officers saw the victim, Anthony R. Rojas, 24, lying on the floor with a gunshot wound to the right side of his head.
Medics arrived after the scene had been secured and pronounced Rojas dead. Officers also saw two open and empty gun safes, a 3D printer, a money counter, boxes of ammunition and rifle magazines in the apartment. It appeared that Rojas was using the 3D printer to create lower receivers for handguns, the court documents say.
Investigators learned that Rojas had posted a social media photo just 12 hours before his death that showed thousands of dollars in cash laid out on a couch at his apartment. The money was not recovered after he was fatally shot. At 6:21 p.m., a person called 911 and reported a juvenile male who had a gun in his pocket dropped two bags of handguns on the 2100 block of Burke Ave., just west of the building where the shooting took place.
Officers recovered a black backpack and a blue bag that contained fifteen Glock 9mm handguns. One of the guns had a magazine in it that contained ammunition and had what appeared to be blood on its grip. An AR-style pistol and two large-capacity magazines were also in one of the bags.
TWITTER: Our original thread on the shooting
Neighbors said Rojas “seemed to be partying all day” with a group of men and one woman. Shortly before the shooting, a woman and a group of males were arguing north of the residence. Two black males walked up to the apartment and Rojas yelled down to them, asking what they were doing. The woman appeared to wait outside the door. A shot was heard and shortly after, a woman knocked on the door of the unit. The woman yelled that the victim was already dead and multiple people were seen running from the apartment.
The two black males were described as in their late teens or early 20s. One had long dreads, wore a red hoodie and a face mask, had a gun tucked in his waistband and fled with a large, black bag. The other black male was tall and thin with shorter hair and possibly wore a green sweatshirt. The second male tried to shove a gun in his sweatshirt as he ran away, while also carrying a bluish-purple bag. The female ran away with the two black males while carrying a large duffle bag. A teenage white male holding a gun was also seen running to a vehicle and then leaving in the opposite direction. One other male--described as being a larger-build Hispanic or black male with a cast on his arm--was seen at the apartment with Rojas shortly before the homicide, but he was later seen at the Holiday gas station next door asking to use people’s phones to get an Uber, the documents said.
Rojas’ mother lives nearby and told police she saw people hanging out with her son at around 1:45 p.m. that day. She identified the woman seen prior to the shooting as Rojas’ “new girlfriend,” La Vida Rose Martinez, 19. The mother’s description of the men who were with her son matched the descriptions of the men seen fleeing the scene. She mentioned that her son was worried for his safety since someone had just shot at his car a few days earlier. Rojas’ mother believed that the black male with the mask and dreads was Martinez’s ex-boyfriend. She said the larger black or Hispanic male with a cast on his arm goes by “Six.”
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The next day, officers conducted surveillance at an address on Bedford Street in Saint Paul that was associated with Martinez. Officers saw a larger-build man with a cast on his arm leave the residence with a woman and get into an Uber. Officers followed the Uber to Burnsville where it was stopped on traffic violations. Officers found Kimberly Nicole Terry, 36, and her son, Steven Lawrence Terry, 19, in the Uber’s backseat.
Steven Terry matched the description of the larger man with a cast on his arm. Officers found a handgun without a serial number in a bag between Kimberly and Steven Terry. The handgun had a round of ammunition in its chamber, a full magazine and matched the “ghost” guns that had been abandoned near the murder scene.
Both Kimberly Terry and her son were arrested. Steven Terry claimed to be unaware that there was a gun in the bag next to him, but while in the back of a squad car, he had discussed the gun with his mother. Kimberly claimed the gun in the purse was hers and that she found it outside. When Steven began to say, “No, it’s not,” his mother interrupted him and insisted the gun was hers. Steven later said, “Mom, I didn’t set anything up.” Kimberly replied, “You didn’t set it up, but you followed. You did exactly what everybody wanted you to do.” Kimberly repeatedly referred to her son as “Six.”
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When Kimberly Terry asked her son if the gun had been fired, Steven Terry shook his head “no.” Steven Terry was advised of his constitutional rights and agreed to speak to police. He admitted to being at Rojas’ apartment and said that Martinez had brought him there. Martinez picked him up and they went shopping at the mall in Edina before they went to Rojas’ apartment. Steven Terry said Martinez had a black handgun and wore a bulletproof vest when they went to the apartment but claimed he didn’t know the two black males who were also present. Steven Terry claimed that Martinez kept feeding him Gabapentin, a prescription medication used to treat seizures and nerve pain, and he eventually had five of the pills. As a result, he started to have a panic attack and “didn’t like” how the black males were looking at him. He said that he needed some air, walked to a nearby Holiday station, borrowed a phone and got an Uber out of the area. He claimed that he didn’t know about the shooting, that he went home and then passed out. Terry said that he didn’t see Martinez after that.
After law enforcement executed a search warrant at her residence and spoke to her family members, Martinez turned herself in to authorities on June 20. She was advised of her constitutional rights and agreed to speak to police. Martinez claimed that the two black males were Steven Terry’s friends and she had just brought them to the apartment. She said that she knew them from the Bedford Street block, but she did not know their real names or street monikers. When shown a photo of “OJ,” Martinez confirmed that he and the other black male were in the room with the safes when she and “AM” went out to look for Steven Terry, who said he was having a panic attack.
A photo posted to Facebook shows the victim with stacks of cash
Martinez claimed that Octavion Rayshawn Jones, 19, was present and was in the room with Rojas when he was shot. Martinez claimed that she was outside with “AM” when she heard the shot. The black man with the face mask and dreads ran past Martinez when she went inside to check on the victim. Martinez said she saw “OJ” inside the victim’s apartment.
Jones’ phone pinged at the Rojas’ residence until just after the homicide, and Jones shut down his social media accounts around the same time. Jones was described as a tall, thin, black male with short dreads.
“AM,” born in 2006, is around 17 years old and not named in the criminal complaint.
“AE” or “23,” born in 2005, is around 18 years old and not named in the criminal complaint.
When asked if Jones had anything in his hands, Martinez claimed not to have noticed anything because she was suffering from PTSD. Martinez denied having met with the black males right before the shooting and claimed she told “AM” to stay out of the room. She went in and checked on Rojas, shook him and realized that he had a gunshot wound to the head. Martinez said she was unsure if Rojas had shot himself or if one of the black males had killed him. She claimed that the only gun that had a magazine with bullets was the gun that Rojas kept on his hip. Martinez told investigators she screamed that the victim was dead, gathered her belongings from the bedroom next door and left, running out of the apartment.
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Martinez said she thought the shooter had used her to get to Rojas and told investigators that she got a ride back to the Bedford address from “some random.” She refused to say where “AM” was located, only saying that he was outside with her when the victim was shot.
After being told she was being booked for murder and while she was being led away in handcuffs, Martinez screamed: “You already have them! It was ‘23!’ It was ‘23!’”
A confidential informant told law enforcement that “23” and Jones were initially supposed to rob Rojas of the ghost guns, but “23” shot the victim instead. The confidential informant identified “23” as “AE.”
Officers again interviewed Steven Terry after advising him of his constitutional rights. Terry claimed the two unknown men in the apartment looked Hispanic. He initially claimed he couldn’t remember when the two men got there and then said they were already at the apartment when he arrived.
According to the court documents, Martinez made a phone call to a man while in jail. Martinez whispered to the man, “They didn’t even ask about you—so you are good.”
Steven Terry also made a phone call from jail and spoke to AM’s brother, who said: “You showed me love; I’m going to show you love. Don’t leave anybody high and dry and don’t put anybody out there. I’m gonna make sure you smooth; you make sure I’m smooth—my brother’s smooth. You know what I’m saying? We got it.” The male on the phone said he’d put money on Terry’s books in jail, for use on purchases while incarcerated.
Jones currently has 9 warrants for his arrest in Ramsey County on charges of possession of a firearm by an ineligible person, possession of a trigger activator, aggravated robbery, simple robbery and simple robbery.
“AE” has prior adjudications for aggravated robbery and simple robbery.
Jones was charged by summons and it is unclear as of Friday if he has been apprehended. If you have any information, please call your local authorities. A booking photo for Jones was not available.
The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy on Rojas, finding his cause of his death was an intermediate gunshot wound to the head and manner of death was homicide.
Jones, Steven Terry and Martinez were each charged with 2nd-degree murder with intent, a felony punishable by up to 40 years in prison. In addition, both Steven and Kimberly Terry were each charged with receiving/possessing a firearm without a serial number, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.
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TWITTER: Our original thread on the shooting