Feb. 9 (UPI) — Prosecutors in Minnesota on Tuesday charged a teenager in a shooting that led to the raid in which police shot and killed Amir Locke.
Ramsey prosecutors filed a juvenile petition charging Locke’s cousin, 17-year-old Mekhi C. Speed, with two counts of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 38-year-old Otis Elder.
Prosecutors were also seeking to certify Speed to be tried as an adult.
Charging documents shared Tuesday revealed that Speed was living in a different unit of the Bolero Flats Apartment Homes but had access to the apartment where Locke, 22, was shot, as his brother lives with his girlfriend.
Police had warrants to enter Speed’s unit, a unit belonging to another suspect seen at the scene of the shooting and the unit where Speed’s brother lives.
Investigators said police entered the first two units and found neither Speed nor the other suspect.
They then traveled to the third unit where footage from one of the officers’ body cameras showed police using a key to unlock the apartment door as they entered while shouting “Search warrant!” Locke, Speed’s brother and his girlfriend were all present at the time of the raid.
Locke was sleeping on a couch which officers kicked over, causing him to stir as he held a firearm in his right hand. Officer Mark Hanneman then opened fire within seconds, killing Locke.
The legal team representing Locke’s family, led by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, noted the documents confirmed he “was never a target of that investigation or those search warrants.”
“Amir was an innocent young man of a raid gone terribly wrong, who is now the latest statistic and victim of the dangerous and intrusive no-knock warrant techniques that must be banned,” they said in a statement.
Thousands gathered in the streets of downtown Minneapolis to protest the killing of Locke while calling on Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Interim Chief Amelia Huffman to resign and for Hanneman to be fired and prosecuted.
The documents released Tuesday stated that Elder was killed outside a business in St. Paul at around 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 10.
Police seized a hat they suspect Speed was wearing when he allegedly shot Elder and other items associated with two people believed to have been with Speed shortly after the Jan. 10 shooting from the apartment Speed shared with his mother. They also seized marijuana and the gun belonging to Locke from Speed’s brother’s apartment.
Additionally a “large amount of marijuana” was found in the apartment associated with the other suspect.
Speed appeared in court on Tuesday as he said he wanted more time to speak to his family and his attorney. Judge Stephen Smith ordered him to remain in custody and scheduled another hearing for Feb. 15.
