Man charged with second-degree murder in killing of 4
Ramsey County prosecutors on Tuesday charged an Arizona man in connection with the fatal shootings of four people last week in St. Paul.
Antoine Darnique Suggs, 38, was previously charged in Wisconsin with allegedly hiding the bodies of four people in a cornfield. He now faces four counts of second-degree murder in Minnesota.
According to the criminal complaint, investigators believe Suggs killed the victims between 3:30 a.m. and 3:48 a.m. on Sept. 12 along West Seventh Street in St. Paul. Surveillance footage shows one of the victims slumped over in the front passenger seat of the vehicle, the court document said.
Six hours later, at 9:48 a.m., surveillance video from a gas station on Snelling Avenue shows the car at a pump and the same victim “in the same position in which her body was found in Wisconsin,” investigators wrote. As he enters the store, Suggs is “clearly identifiable on the store’s surveillance video since he did not wear a face covering.”
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A farmer near Menomonie, Wis., found the bodies of Jasmine Sturm, Matthew Pettus, Nitosha Lee Flug-Presley and Loyace Foreman III in a car left in a cornfield.
Prosecutors say Suggs’ father, Darren Lee McWright, 56, followed his son to Wisconsin and gave him a ride back to Minnesota after he ditched the car. Police allegedly found Suggs' driver's license in the abandoned vehicle. Prosecutors say Suggs told his father that he “snapped and shot a couple of people.”
However, prosecutors say McWright denied knowing there were bodies in the car that he allegedly helped hide.
Suggs, like McWright, also faces four counts in Wisconsin of hiding a corpse. McWright is jailed in St. Paul. Suggs is being held in Arizona.
In a statement, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi expressed both relief and grief for the loss of life.
“We are greatly relieved that the police investigation has yielded enough information to bring forward criminal charges today in this very disturbing case,” he said. “Our hearts go out to the families and friends of the victims. My greatest appreciation for the diligent work on this case by the St. Paul Police Department and other law enforcement agencies who worked tirelessly to find the truth.”