Teen Pleads Guilty in Coon Rapids Shooting Over Vape Sale

Jun 9

A 17-year-old from Coon Rapids has pleaded guilty to shooting another teen during an attempted robbery set up through the messaging app Telegram last fall.

Nasiah Edward Hinton pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in connection to the Sept. 27, 2024, shooting that left a 17-year-old with a gunshot wound that nearly struck his heart.

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Hinton was initially charged with attempted first-degree murder, but that count is expected to be dismissed at sentencing as part of a plea agreement.

According to the amended criminal complaint, Coon Rapids police responded shortly before 9 p.m. that night to the area of 113th Avenue Northwest and Robinson Drive Northwest after a report that someone had been shot. A caller told dispatchers that her friend had been hit by gunfire from an unknown suspect who approached their vehicle and began shooting.

Officers met the group at a nearby residence and found the juvenile victim in the front passenger seat of a Mercedes. He had gunshot wounds to his upper arm and chest. Medical personnel later discovered that a single bullet had passed through his arm and lodged in his chest just millimeters from his heart. He was taken to Mercy Hospital for treatment.

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The victim told officers he had arranged to sell vape pens to a person he had been messaging with on Telegram. After parking on the street to meet the buyer, a man approached the driver’s side window, pointed a handgun, and demanded his phone and wallet. The victim said he refused and attempted to drive off, at which point he was shot. Several witnesses who were in the vehicle were able to describe the suspect to officers.

Witnesses provided further detail, saying the victim initially handed over some vape devices and showed a payment code on his phone before the suspect pulled out a gun and fired. One witness recalled that another person outside the vehicle appeared to be holding a second handgun.

Investigators were able to identify Hinton after the victim showed police the Telegram profile used in the transaction, which included photos of the suspect. A school administrator later confirmed the person in the images matched Hinton, a student at the school. He was arrested on September 30, three days after the shooting.

Police executed a search warrant at Hinton’s home later that day and found two loaded handguns, including one described as a Glock-style pistol with an extended magazine and switch, along with vape products and a THC cartridge.

Under the plea deal, prosecutors agreed to dismiss the attempted murder charge in exchange for the guilty plea. Hinton faces more than eight years in prison and his attorneys say they’ll ask for a “downward departure” at sentencing, which is set for Sept. 10, 2025.

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