A 16-year-old boy shot in the stomach Feb. 10 in St. Paul’s North End died Sunday while hospitalized — and the alleged shooter was charged Wednesday in the killing.

Maurice Antonio Gaynor Jr., a 17-year-old from St. Paul with a violent criminal history, shot the teen around 1 a.m. during a robbery near north Western Avenue and Topping Street, according to a juvenile petition filed in Ramsey County District Court charging him with first-degree aggravated robbery and second-degree intentional murder while committing a felony.

The victim was identified by the Ramsey County Medical Examiner as Kalven Sin Suy, of Savage. His death marks the city’s third homicide of the year.

Gaynor, who was arrested Feb. 16, is jailed and has a first appearance in juvenile court Wednesday afternoon.

Court records show that Gaynor was put on Anoka County probation in October for five years after being convicted in adult court of first-degree robbery.

According to Wednesday’s juvenile petition:

Suy’s girlfriend called 911 shortly after 1 a.m. and said he had been shot near Western Avenue North and Topping Street.

Suy was found with a gunshot wound to the abdomen, and hospital staff described his condition as “grave.” Officers found a spent shell casing near the teen.

The girlfriend told police that Suy asked her to drive him to the area of Western Avenue and Burgess Street to meet up with someone he knew. As they arrived, she said, she could hear a voice on the other end of the phone ask, “Twin, where you at?” She said her boyfriend responded, “I’m pulling up.” He got out and walked southbound on Western Avenue.

She said she parked on the west side of Western Avenue, north of Topping Street, and that within five minutes, he called and said, “come get me, he shot me!” She found him shot on the northeast corner of the intersection.

In a follow-up interview, investigators learned more about the suspect, identified as “50.” She said her boyfriend had told her they had been in a juvenile detention center together.

Investigators questioned her further about the Feb. 10 meet-up. She said her boyfriend insisted that she take him out around 12:30 a.m. to meet up with “50.” She said the teen sometimes sold marijuana, and that he had a Bath & Body bag with him when he met with “50,” but she did not know what was inside. The bag was not with him when she found him shot, she said.

Investigators discovered Suy had been texting with Gaynor under the contact of “50” beginning on Jan. 7. Texts and several photographs refer to guns and controlled substances. On Feb. 9, messages between the two are “clear negotiations of a deal in which (the teen) is selling a gun and narcotics to (Gaynor)” for either $3,700 or $3,800, the petition says.

The texts between the two stopped at 12:54 a.m. on Feb. 10, with Suy texting Gaynor that he is “End of the block.”

Records from Gaynor’s phone number show his phone was in the area of the 800 block of Western Avenue North at the time of the shooting. Later, the phone was in the area of the 3000 block of Taylor Street N.E. in Minneapolis, which is the registered address for Gaynor’s current probation through Anoka County.

Gaynor was arrested on Friday during a search of his father’s home in the 800 block of Western Avenue. He was in possession of his cellphone and 38 counterfeit $100 bills. In the home, officers found a green backpack with his Minnesota ID and rounds of .22-caliber ammunition inside.

At the Minneapolis home, in Gaynor’s bedroom, police found a .22-caliber Mossberg firearm, his school ID, a .22-caliber spent casing and a loaded .22-caliber magazine. The gun was tampered with in an attempt to erase its serial number.

In an interview with police, Gaynor denied knowing why he was arrested and said he was at his mother’s house on Feb. 10. He initially denied knowing Suy, but then said he knew him by a different name. “(Gaynor) then stated he wasn’t going to lie and said he didn’t have anything to say,” according to the petition.

Investigators were notified Sunday that Suy had died of complications from the gunshot wound.

In November 2021, Gaynor was adjudicated delinquent  — the juvenile version of being found guilty — on first-degree robbery and first-degree assault charges out of Hennepin County.

Gaynor was adjudicated delinquent of a dangerous weapon discharge in Hennepin County in January 2023.

Related Articles

Twin Cities executive convicted of insider trading involving company’s acquisition by Medtronic

Children were in room with man who killed Burnsville officers and firefighter, and shot himself, mother says

Drunken driver given probation for South St. Paul crash that killed her ex, injured 2 others

‘Heroic actions’ of law enforcement meant safety for family in Burnsville home, says relative of gunman’s girlfriend

2 men are charged with murder in the deadly shooting at Kansas City’s Super Bowl celebration