Gunfire in Saint Paul Apartment Leads to Felony Charges
BY MN CRIME STAFF
An 18-year-old Saint Paul man is facing two felony charges after police say he fired a gun inside an apartment on Christmas night, sending a bullet into a neighboring unit.
Mekhi Asani Holmes is charged with possessing a machine gun or machine gun conversion device and reckless discharge of a firearm within a municipality.
The charges stem from an incident reported at about 10:52 p.m. on December 25 at an apartment building in the 700 block of Raymond Avenue in Saint Paul.
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According to the criminal complaint, police were called after a resident reported that their 18-year-old son had discharged a firearm inside the apartment and that the round traveled into a neighbor’s unit. Officers arrived and were allowed inside the apartment, where Holmes was located and taken into custody. Investigators say Holmes told officers the gun was in his bedroom inside a box.
Inside the apartment, officers found a bullet hole in a bathroom mirror that continued into the wall behind it. Investigators determined the bullet appeared to have entered a neighboring apartment. Officers forced entry into that unit to check for injured occupants but found no one inside.
A man identified as Holmes’s mother’s boyfriend told officers he had arrived at the apartment after the incident and that Holmes told him he had made a mistake. Holmes’s mother told police she was at work when she received a call from her boyfriend about what had happened. She then called 911. She also attempted to call Holmes, but he hung up on her, according to the complaint.
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Police later obtained and executed a search warrant for the apartment. During the search, officers found a handgun inside a box near Holmes’s bed. The firearm was loaded with a magazine inserted and one round in the chamber. Investigators say the gun had a red metal device attached to the rear of the slide, identified as a Glock switch, which is used to convert a semi-automatic handgun into an automatic firearm.
Officers also recovered two cellphones, one charging on the bed and another near the front door, along with two FedEx work identification cards bearing Holmes’s name.
If convicted, the machine gun-related charge carries a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison and a $35,000 fine, while the reckless discharge charge carries a maximum of two years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
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