The killing of a 22-year-old in St. Paul as he returned home from work in St. Paul was an “execution,” and a 19-year-old led the charge into an alley and was the getaway driver, a prosecutor told jurors Monday.

Surveillance video shows a man returning to a car, and the prosecution says that was Detwan Cortell Allen.

Detwan Cortell Allen (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

But Allen’s attorney said the person seen on video wasn’t in the alley when the shooting happened, based on the timing of the shots.

Alex Becker was shot just before midnight Dec. 27 in St. Paul’s North End and was pronounced dead at the scene. The prosecution says it was an ambush to rob him, and the Ramsey County attorney’s office charged three men with aiding and abetting murder.

Allen’s trial started Dec. 4 with jury selection, opening statements were Dec. 7 and the prosecution finished its case Friday. Defense attorney Jeremy Plesha didn’t call witnesses to the stand. Both sides gave their closing arguments Monday, and the evidence is now with a jury to make a decision.

Walk home after long shift

Dec. 27 was Becker’s first day back at work at a Como Avenue heating and plumbing parts company, after spending time with family for Christmas. He put in a 10-hour shift and clocked out about 11:15 p.m. Then, he walked home, which he’d done before, “and he had always made it home. Little did he know he would never make it home” that night, Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Saraswati Singh told jurors.

Alex Becker (Courtesy of Hidy Hammarsten)

The day before, a Toyota Camry had been stolen in Brooklyn Center. The prosecution says Allen, Shaun Lamar Travis, 26, and Arteze Owen Kinerd, 21, got into the car the night of Dec. 27 and drove from Minneapolis and to a residential area in St. Paul.

“Someone caught their attention as they were driving” and it was Becker, Singh said, who later added there was no evidence the men knew Becker. No one else was around. Allen, who Singh said was driving, made the first turn he could, followed by an immediate a U-turn, based on surveillance video. They parked and three people got out.

They “assembled” in the area of Lawson Avenue and Kent Street, “getting ready to ambush” Becker, Singh said.  Allen walked to the front of the line — he was leading the group and he ran to chase after Becker into an alley, Singh also said. The other two men followed, also running.

“This is calculated and coordinated, working together,” Singh said.

Other surveillance video in the area captured the sounds of four gunshots in quick succession, followed by a pause of seven to eight seconds and then three more shots, before another pause and then a final shot. Becker was shot six times.

A DNA swab taken from the Camry’s driver’s door showed Allen as the main profile, according to the criminal complaint filed against him.

Defense attorney says evidence not proven

The prosecution isn’t “taking a position about who or how many people” shot Becker because the charge doesn’t require proving who shot the gun, Singh said.

The Ramsey County attorney’s office charged all three men with aiding and abetting second-degree intentional murder, not premeditated. Another charge was added Monday, over the objection of prosecutors, for jurors to consider against Allen — unintentional second-degree murder, also aiding and abetting. “Aiding and abetting” means working together, Singh told jurors.

Plesha said intent matters — jurors would have to believe that prosecutors proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Allen was there and his “actions and his presence” were intended “specifically for the purpose of killing Alex Becker. I just don’t believe the evidence gets there.” For a conviction of unintentional murder, the prosecution would have to prove that Allen was present for the purpose of aiding and abetting aggravated robbery, Plesha said, but he said that wasn’t the case.

Ramsey County District Judge JaPaul Harris recently found one of the men, Travis, not guilty of murder. Travis waived his right to a jury trial and a bench trial was held instead. Harris concluded there wasn’t a dispute about Travis being present, but said the prosecution didn’t prove all of the elements of an intentional murder charge to find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Kinerd has pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled for February.

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