The fatal shooting of a 22-year-old man in St. Paul may have been connected to a past marijuana theft and shots fired, according to a murder charge filed Monday.

Royce D. McKinney, of St. Paul, died in the Eastern Hazel Park area of the East Side on June 24.

The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office charged a 17-year-old on Friday with possession of a firearm by a person under 18. The teen told police he knew the gun he was arrested with was involved in the murder and that a friend of his mother’s, “Derrick,” was the shooter.

He said McKinney followed them home from Cub Foods, taunted Derrick and scared his mother by revving his engine outside their home. Police talked to the teen’s mom who “denied the existence of a ‘Derrick,’” according to the criminal complaint filed Monday.

Investigators knew the teen has an older brother, Lawrence Danzel Phelps, 30. They reviewed surveillance video from Cub that showed the teen with his 6-year-old nephew and Phelps, but not another person who could be Derrick, the complaint said.

After the teen talked to investigators last Monday, he requested to talk to them again. He said he’d talked to his mother from the Ramsey County Juvenile Detention Center and “feels comfortable now telling the truth about what occurred,” according to the complaint against Phelps.

He said Phelps previously stole marijuana from McKinney. In March, McKinney shot at Phelps, and casings found at a shooting scene matched McKinney’s firearm, the complaint said.

The teen said he was at Cub on June 24 when he noticed McKinney in a Chevrolet Tahoe, which followed them home. A couple of hours later, the teen was inside with his family and he heard an engine revving outside. His sister looked outside and said it was the Tahoe again. The teen told Phelps, who grabbed a gun and ran outside.

Soon after, the teen “heard several shots and hit the floor with his other family members,” the complaint said.

Phelps came back inside, saying, “I gotta go,” changed his clothes and left the firearm. “Phelps reportedly said that he hid in the alley and when the Tahoe came by, he jumped out to start shooting,” the complaint said.

Officers responded to the shooting about 9:40 p.m. June 24 at Van Dyke Street and York Avenue. McKinney was in the driver’s seat of a Tahoe that had crashed into a tree on the boulevard, and he was pronounced dead.

Police said there was a handgun on the driver’s seat of McKinney’s vehicle. It had a full magazine and no round in the chamber.

On June 25 at about 8 a.m., Phelps’ 17-year-old brother was seen leaving the area with a backpack and law enforcement pulled over the Uber he was riding in. When officers were taking him into custody, he said, “There is a gun in my bag,” asked, “What am I wanted for, murder?” and then said the backpack wasn’t his.

Officers arrested Phelps on Friday in South St. Paul. He said he hadn’t been to his family’s address in a couple of weeks, but then said he’d been there earlier in the week. He said it was only to drop off groceries and he’d left. He said he didn’t know anything about a shooting.

Phelps is charged with second-degree murder. An attorney for him wasn’t listed in the court file.

He had warrants from the Minnesota Department of Corrections for a probation violation in an assault case, domestic-related warrants from Dakota County and a theft warrant from Hennepin County, the complaint said.

Related Articles