Charges: Oakdale man helped friend rob, murder Deondrae Atkins in downtown St. Paul
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- An Oakdale man is in custody and faces charges in connection to St. Paul's 33rd homicide case of the year.
The Ramsey County Attorney's Office says Jesse Willis Gleeson, 32, was arrested Thursday and charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the death of the 33-year-old Deondrae Atkins, which happened early Sunday morning in downtown St. Paul.
The criminal complaint says Atkins was found on the ground and unresponsive by officers on the 200 block of West Ninth Street, near the Dorothy Day Center, just after 2 a.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers found "a large sum of money" in Atkins' pants pockets. A cellphone and a bullet were also nearby.
People who knew Atkins told investigators that he sold fentanyl in the area out of his sedan, where he regularly slept inside, "never got out of," and "rarely let people inside."
Surveillance video shows Atkins parking in the area where he was later found dead. A couple hours later, a man is seen getting out of an SUV that had been parked a couple cars behind Atkins. He walks up to the Atkins' sedan and talks to him before returning to the SUV.
About a half-hour later, that same man and Gleeson exit the SUV and walk back up to Atkins' vehicle. Gleeson is seen trying to open Atkins' car doors. Soon after, the other man shoots Atkins, who then gets out of the sedan and "walked away" while "hunched over." Gleeson is seen going back to the SUV and driving off, while the shooter gets inside Atkins' sedan and drives off.
Atkins is seen walking across the street, then he collapses onto the sidewalk. About 40 minutes later, officers found his body.
Surveillance video then shows the sedan and SUV traveling to a neighborhood near the State Capitol Complex. The sedan was eventually found by police and "appeared to have been rummaged through." A handgun, Atkins' wallet and pills were found inside.
The SUV was then seen driving to an apartment complex in Oakdale, where police later arrested Gleeson. At the same time, the shooter tricked a tenant of an apartment building near where Atkins' car was ditched to let him inside, saying his son was having a heart attack. He was later seen in an elevator surveillance video "excited," and showing cash to another person.
Police say Gleeson made up several stories and alibis, but did confirm that the shooter was a man known as "Skee." That man is still at large.
Gleeson could face up to 80 years in prison if convicted.
