19-year-old pleads not guilty in ghost gun-related fatal shooting in North St. Paul
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Four people face criminal charges in connection with the ghost gun-related shooting death of Anthony Rojas in North St. Paul last month. Now, one of the accused has pleaded not guilty.
According to court documents, a 19-year-old woman pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree murder. No further court dates have yet been scheduled.
Two other 19-year-olds, Steven Lawrence Terry and Octavion Rayshawn Jones, also face second-degree murder charges. A third person is charged with possession of a firearm that doesn't have a serial number. Steven Terry also faces that charge.
The criminal complaint states that police were called to an apartment building on the 2100 block of McKnight Road just after 6 p.m. on June 19. Inside an apartment, officers found Rojas with a gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead about 30 minutes later.
Officers also found a shotgun and a bulletproof vest on the hallway floor, plus "two open and empty gun safes, a 3D printer, a money counter, boxes of ammunition, and rifle magazines in the apartment," the complaint said.
Police learned that earlier in the day, Rojas had posted a photo to social media "that showed thousands of dollars in cash laid out on his bed at his apartment." Police say that money wasn't in the apartment when they were there.
Investigators believed Rojas used the 3D printer to make untraceable firearms, also known as ghost guns, the complaint said.
Neighbors told police several men and one woman had been "partying" in Rojas' apartment that day. At one point, two men entered his apartment, while a woman waited outside, and a gunshot was heard. People then fled the scene, including the two men and the woman - all three carrying bags.
According to the complaint, Rojas' mother later identified the woman with the two men as her son's new girlfriend.
If convicted, Jones and Steven Terry face up to 40 years in prison on their murder charges.
[Editor's note: A previous version of this story identified the girlfriend, who was facing two charges of second-degree murder. Those charges have since been dismissed for lack of evidence, so her name has been removed.]