Opinion ID: 2197856
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Elliot Street Shooting

Text: Morris testified that, as he drove down 28th Street after the bus stop shooting, Frankie was directing the group, and they were going toward 20s territory. Morris said that they pulled up to a corner where K.H. was stopped in her vehicle on the cross street. K.H. testified at trial that she saw the SUV at that location just before 10:30 p.m. and observed Jackson in the front passenger seat. Upon seeing Jackson, K.H. immediately called home to tell her mother to make sure that her brothers were not in front of the house. K.H. knew that her brother, D.H., and Jackson did not get along and, having seen Jackson so close to her home, she thought there was going to be a fight or shooting. K.H. testified that she received a return call from her mother two minutes later, telling her that someone had just been shot. K.H. returned home immediately and learned that Gennaro Knox, her 16-year-old neighbor, was dead at the scene. Morris explained that when he saw K.H. in her car, he and the others were on their way to Elliot Street, at Frankie's direction. He testified that he knew D.H. and K.H. lived there, and that D.H. was a member of the 10s gang. When the SUV turned onto Elliot Street, according to Morris, he saw two teenage boys, whom Morris believed were 20s or 10s based on their location and the fact that they were outside late at night. Morris testified that both boys saw them as they came up the block, and that both boys paused and looked frightened. Morris said that he stopped the vehicle in front of the boys and that Jackson fired more than three shots out of the front passenger window. Morris said that one of the boys ran between two houses, but the other ran straight back toward the gate in front of the house. Morris stated that the victim was shot as he tried to climb over the gate. He said that everyone in the car saw the victim fall to the ground as they slowly started to drive away, and that they then sped off. [2] D.W., who was on his way to a party with Knox when the shooting occurred, also testified. He explained that on the night of October 5, he and Knox had just stepped out of D.W.'s house on Elliot Avenue to get on their bicycles to ride to a party. D.W. said that he and Knox left the house through the front door, walked across the front yard, opened the gate of the fence and closed it behind them, and stepped down several stairs to the public sidewalk. D.W. testified that he got on his bike and started riding, but Knox paused for a moment to fix the doo rag on his head. As D.W. started out on his bike, he heard gunshots  between five and seven  behind him. D.W. looked back and saw Knox run back up the steps and begin to open the gate of the fence. At that point, D.W. lost sight of Knox because D.W. had darted between two houses. When he came out, D.W. saw his parents in front of his house and Knox lying on the ground, still breathing. According to D.W., neither he nor Knox was affiliated with any gang. But D.W. was aware of gang activity on his street, and his residence on Elliot Avenue was next door to the residence where D.H., a member of the 10s gang, lived. The medical examiner who was called to the scene testified at trial that Knox was hit twice, once through the neck and once through the armpit into the chest. The wounds, according to the examiner, were consistent with witnesses' description that Knox had been falling to the ground, or that his body was parallel to the ground, when he was shot. Officer Andrew Hanson testified that he received a dispatch call to the Elliot Avenue shooting at 10:31 p.m. When Hanson arrived at the scene, he found several people upset by the events, and Knox, who was not responsive. Paramedics arrived shortly thereafter and pronounced Knox dead. According to Morris, after the shooting at Elliot Street, the men in the Ford Explorer went to a friend's house, and then later dropped off Xzavier at a location near 36th Street and Park Avenue. The four remaining men returned to Markey's house, at 37th Street and Portland Avenue, the location from which they had departed before the shootings. Friends were still gathered at the house. Several young women and another young man joined them, and the group used two vehicles  the Explorer and another  to drive around and do stupid stuff before heading to Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) to check up on Markey. HCMC video surveillance showed the group of friends entering the hospital at about 11:50 p.m. Referencing several video frames shown at trial, Morris pointed out Jackson wearing a white t-shirt and identified and described everyone else in the group. After checking on Markey, the group left the hospital and dispersed back to their homes. Dominique and Xzavier, passengers in the Ford Explorer on the night of the shootings, also testified. Both largely corroborated the seating arrangement and sequence of events described by Morris. Both also testified that Jackson was the shooter. Dominique testified that he is a member in the Tyson's Mob street gang. Xzavier admitted that he is a member in the Bloods street gang. Xzavier further stated that the five men had gone out seeking revenge for Markey's injury. The State also introduced evidence of finger prints taken from the Ford Explorer. Two of Jackson's finger prints were found on the passenger-side front door, one on the exterior handle, and one on the exterior surface of the rear window frame. Frankie's finger print was found on the passenger-side rear door, front window frame, exterior surface. These findings are consistent with the seating arrangement in the Ford Explorer that the witnesses described.