The second young St. Paul man charged in the killing of Michael Brasel, who was shot as he tried to stop someone from rummaging through his car in front of his family’s St. Anthony Park home, has agreed to plead guilty to murder.

Under the terms of the plea deal, Ta Mla, 18, agreed Friday to plead guilty to second-degree unintentional murder while committing a felony in connection with the May 6 slaying of Brasel, a 44-year-old husband, father of two boys and youth hockey coach.

Ta Mla (Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

The plea deal calls for Mla to be sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in the shooting. The agreement also called for prosecutors to dismiss a second charge of second-degree murder with intent in connection with Brasel’s slaying.

Prosecutors say Mla’s accomplice, Kle Swee, who was 17 at the time, fired the handgun that killed Brasel.

In late August, Swee pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree intentional murder. He was sentenced to 25½ years in prison on Oct. 4.

Officers who responded to the shooting at 7:21 a.m. May 6 found Brasel in his front yard in the 2300 block of Chilcombe Ave. Hilary Brasel, a registered nurse, gave him chest compressions and yelled for help. However, Brasel died of multiple gunshot wounds a short time later at a hospital.

The Brasels’ two children were fifth- and eighth-graders at the time. One was inside the house when he heard his father yell from outside, “What are you doing?” followed by gunshots.

Officers saw that the family’s Ford Flex, which was parked on the street, appeared to have been rummaged through, with a small bag and a phone-charging cable near the front seat. Testing linked DNA on the bag to Ta Mla, the criminal complaints say.

Police on June 6 stopped a vehicle that Ta Mla was a passenger in and arrested him. They found a Glock handgun in the vehicle, which he later told police was the same gun used to shoot Brasel.

According to the complaint, Brasel “surprised Ta Mla and grabbed Ta Mla from behind. Ta Mla heard one or two shots. After the shots were fired, Ta Mla drove off.”

“When pressed, Ta Mla eventually admitted there was a third person sitting behind the driver’s seat in the Honda,” the charges say. “Ta Mla denied knowing the man’s name. He asked (Kle Swee) and the other man what happened because they were supposed to be acting as lookouts. (Kle Swee) apologized and said, ‘My bad, bro. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.’”

Ta Mla’s girlfriend reported that he was with Kle Swee rummaging through cars “when a man came out and put Ta Mla in a chokehold” and Kle Swee shot the man, the charges say.

Ta Mla told police that Kle Swee felt bad for shooting Brasel. He said they talked about it and he told Kle Swee “that God knows what they did,” the charges say. “Ta Mla said (Brasel) was an innocent guy.”

Location analysis on Kle Swee’s and Ta Mla’s cellphones placed them near Brasel’s home at the time of the shooting, according to the charges. It also indicated Kle Swee returned home in St. Paul between 7:45 and 7:50 a.m. on May 6, and Ta Mla’s phone was still with him.

Officers located fingerprints of a 20-year-old man on Kle Swee’s car and brought him in for questioning, according to the criminal complaint filed against Kle Swee in adult court. The man admitted to being a backseat passenger in Kle Swee’s car at the time of the killing and said Ta Mla was the driver and Kle Swee was the front-seat passenger. A third passenger was seated behind Kle Swee.

The man said they were driving around and stealing from random vehicles. He said they parked next to Brasel’s car and that Ta Mla got out of Kle Swee’s car to look through it. Everyone else remained in Kle Swee’s car.

He said Brasel surprised them and grabbed hold of Ta Mla. He then heard two gunshots and saw Kle Swee pointing a gun toward Brasel. He described the gun as a Glock handgun.

“He stated he and the other back seat passenger were surprised by what occurred and didn’t know anyone had a gun,” the complaint says.

He eventually identified the third passenger as a 23-year-old man. In an interview with police, the man said he saw Kle Swee raise a black pistol with both hands, point it at Brasel and fire multiple times through an open car window, the complaint says. He saw Brasel fall.

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