Man pleads guilty to barricading himself in St. Paul house after deadly shooting
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A man was convicted Wednesday for breaking into a St. Paul home and barricading himself inside with the family still there after he fatally shot another man at a nearby residence.
Tevon Antolwon King, 28, pleaded guilty to one count each of second-degree murder and first-degree burglary with a dangerous weapon. A second count of first-degree burglary was dismissed, according to court documents.
Officers were called to the 1100 block of White Bear Avenue just after midnight on June 7, 2023, on reports of a man who had broken into a home and was holding residents hostage.
The SWAT team soon arrived at the scene, and police used a P.A. system to call for residents to get out. Five people were able to flee the home, police said.
King's mother spoke with police and said he was in the midst of a mental health crisis that was exacerbated by drug use.
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Officers eventually entered the home at about 3 a.m. Charges say they noticed a bullet hole in the side door and a corresponding one in an interior wall. They soon found King near an empty 9mm handgun in the basement and arrested him. Two people were also still inside the home.
Later that morning, police were called to another residence on the block where they found a man dead from an apparent gunshot wound police believed to be connected to King. The man was identified as 36-year-old James Harmon of St. Paul.
A criminal complaint says Harmon was found in his basement, wrapped in covers with signs of blood on the sheets.
King told police he did not know whose house he slept in that night, and recalled waking up on a trampoline and hearing a dog howling. He said he did not know anything about the home Harmon was found dead in, but described the inside layout of the home. King added he did not know Harmon or Harmon's roommate.
King's sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 5.
If you or someone you know needs help, call 988. There you'll reach a trained crisis counselor who can help. The National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, also has resources online.