A Cottage Grove man pleaded guilty Tuesday to first-degree manslaughter for shooting to death Jayvon Andrew Malone, a Maplewood 20-year-old who authorities say was killed at a West St. Paul park as revenge for a 2018 murder in St. Paul.

Brenden Jamel Reynolds, 25, entered the plea to the amended charge after reaching a deal with the prosecution in connection with the killing at Thompson Park on June 9, 2021. A jury trial was scheduled to begin Thursday.

Brenden Jamel Reynolds (Courtesy of the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office)

Reynolds was arrested and charged with second-degree murder nearly two years after the killing. West St. Paul police said at the time they got a break in the case after a witness was identified and “provided a statement confirming the facts we had gathered during the ongoing investigation.”

On Monday, the Dakota County attorney’s office filed a motion of its intent to seek an aggravating sentence, citing two factors: The crime was committed at a park during operating hours, and in the presence of children.

As part of the plea deal, Reynolds stipulated there are aggravating factors and waived his right to a Blakely hearing, a jury hearing to determine whether a defendant qualifies for enhanced penalties.

The defense and prosecution can argue for a sentence between just over 8½ years and nearly 15 years. The presumptive sentence under state guidelines is just over seven years. Sentencing is scheduled for May 9.

Reynolds’ attorney did not return a call Tuesday seeking comment.

According to the criminal complaint, officers were called to the park, which borders U.S. 52, just before 9 p.m. on a report of someone shot. Malone was found lying in grass, and told officers he was going to die. Officers asked who shot him, but he did not answer. He was taken to the hospital, where he died of a gunshot wound to his abdomen.

Jayvon Andrew Malone (Courtesy of Nicole Malone)

Police learned people had gathered at the park to raise money to pay for legal fees for someone who was jailed.

A witness recently told police that one of the men, who was identified as Reynolds, walked directly up to Malone and said, “You got my brother killed,” the complaint says. Reynolds punched Malone in the face, sending him backward and to the ground. The witness saw Reynolds “up his gun” and then shots were fired.

Surveillance video showed Malone run from bullets being fired in his direction. He fell to the ground, and fired a gun toward the pavilion. He got up, turned around and hopped away. He made his way across the parking lot and onto grass behind parked vehicles.

At some point, the witness picked up the gun that Malone dropped and gave it to another witness.

Police learned that Malone, at age 17, was involved in an armed robbery and gunfight with several others that killed 19-year-old Wilbert Harris-McCalister, aka “G-Will,” in St. Paul’s Summit-University neighborhood on Sept. 7, 2018.

“Malone was prosecuted and went to prison; however, it appeared that G-Will’s family believed Malone was responsible for his death,” the criminal complaint against Reynolds says. “This is what it appeared the defendant was referring to when he said to Malone, ‘You got my brother killed.’ ”

According to court documents, Malone was charged by juvenile petition with attempted second-degree murder, second-degree assault, first-degree aggravated robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm for his role in the incident. He agreed to be certified to adult court and in November 2018 was convicted of aiding and abetting first-degree aggravated robbery and sentenced to nearly 3½ years in prison.

Drug case dropped

Court records show that Reynolds had one pending criminal case at the time of his March 23 arrest outside Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Reynolds was charged with felony fifth-degree sale of marijuana in November 2022 after a narcotics canine detected marijuana in his suitcase at MSP Airport about a month earlier. Officers saw Reynolds grab the suitcase off a luggage carousel and walk away, according to the criminal complaint. Inside the suitcase, which he admitted belonged to him, were 9 pounds of marijuana wrapped in nine vacuum-sealed bags. He had $8,000 cash in a pocket.

The Hennepin County attorney’s office dismissed the charge this past October “in the interests of justice,” because he was facing the murder charge.

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