Man Dies Weeks After Saint Paul Tire Iron Attack, Suspect Charged

Aug 7

A man who was found bleeding and unconscious on a Saint Paul sidewalk last month has died from his injuries and a 20-year-old is now charged with murder.

Police were called just before noon on July 13 to the 600 block of Hyacinth Avenue on a report that someone had been struck in the head with what appeared to be a cane.

When officers arrived, they found a man lying on the ground with a severe head injury. Part of his skull was exposed and he was unconscious. Medics brought him to Regions Hospital where he was diagnosed with a major brain injury and placed in critical condition.

The man died on Aug. 3, authorities confirmed, and the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s preliminary findings listed the cause of death as a cranial cerebral injury.

Daniel Penmong Moua, 20, was arrested at the scene and has since been charged with second-degree murder and first-degree assault in connection with the attack, according to a criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County.

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When officers arrived, they found Moua standing over the man’s body. Another man at the scene was applying pressure to the head wound and told officers he didn’t witness the assault but had come out of a nearby residence to help after seeing the man on the ground. He told police that Moua and the victim used to work together scrapping metal and that the two had a falling out.

Moua claimed he had been sitting in a van parked on Hyacinth Avenue when he saw the man walking down the sidewalk. He said his dog, which does not like the man, was loose. Moua said he put the dog into the garage and then came back out to find the man lying on the ground. He told officers he assumed the man had fallen.

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But a 911 caller told dispatch that they had seen someone run up to the man and hit him in the head with what looked like a cane. The attacker reportedly ran back into the garage, then came back out and stood next to the victim as if trying to help.

Officers determined Moua matched the caller’s description of the attacker. They searched the garage and found a tire iron with a curved end inside a plastic bag. The tool appeared to have dried blood on it. Family members later told police the tire iron belonged to Moua and was usually stored in the silver van outside.

Moua was arrested and declined to give a formal interview. He remains in custody pending further court proceedings.

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