A third and final defendant pleaded guilty Tuesday in the killing of 22-year-old Alex Becker, who was shot six times in the alley behind his St. Paul house after walking home from work in December 2022.

Arteze Owen Kinerd, 21, of Minneapolis, entered the plea to aiding and abetting second-degree intentional murder in the killing of Becker, who prosecutors argued was ambushed in an apparent attempted robbery by Kinerd and his two accomplices. Kinerd’s jury trial was scheduled to start this week.

Arteze Owen Kinerd (Courtesy of Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

As part of the same hearing, Kinerd also pleaded guilty to a kidnapping charge that involved carjacking a man in the Merriam Park neighborhood less than three weeks before Becker’s slaying.

Kinerd and the prosecution agreed to a prison term that will fall on the low end of state sentencing guidelines, which calls for a minimum of nearly 22 years, according to Dennis Gerhardstein, Ramsey County attorney’s office spokesman. Sentencing is scheduled for June 3, and both sentences will run concurrently.

Becker’s mother, Tara Becker, wrote on her Facebook page after the plea that she doesn’t agree with the terms.

“I feel the offered sentence is too low and that Kinerd will continue to hurt people on his release from prison,” she wrote.

She said her son was a “beautiful kind human being” and that she “will never be okay.”

“I struggle every moment of every single day,” she said. “My son was targeted for a robbery, ambushed, and murdered by strangers.”

Kinerd’s plea comes after jurors on Dec. 19 found Detwan Cortell Allen, 20, guilty of the same murder charge. He’s scheduled to be sentenced April 26.

Earlier in December, Judge JaPaul Harris acquitted Shaun Lamar Travis, 26, of the same charge. 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.

Video surveillance shows suspects

Alex Becker (Courtesy of Hidy Hammarsten)

Becker was walking home late Dec. 27, 2022, from his first shift back to work at Goodin Co. after a Christmas break. After clocking out at 11:15 p.m. from the Como Avenue heating and plumbing parts company, where his dad works, Becker began his walk home on the snow-covered streets. He had been saving up for a car, his mother testified at Allen’s trial.

The first police officers arrived to the North End alley between Lawson and Hatch avenues just after midnight and found Becker lying on the ground, not breathing and with no pulse. His body was still warm. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators found seven 9mm shell casings near Becker’s body. His cellphone and earbuds were found at the scene, according to court documents. Items found on him included his wallet, which included a credit card and $68, and a check for $500.

Surveillance video showed a Toyota Camry, which had been stolen the night before in Brooklyn Center, go past Becker as he was walking north on Kent Street near Hatch Avenue around 11:51 p.m. Allen, who prosecutors said was driving, made the first turn he could, followed by an immediate U-turn, based on surveillance video. He parked and Allen, Kinerd and Travis got out.

When Becker walked into the alley, the trio ran after him, prosecutors said. Prosecutors noted that there was no evidence the men knew Becker.

Another resident’s surveillance system then recorded four rapid gunshots followed by three rapid gunshots and a final gunshot.

 Gun recovered in Minneapolis

Officers found the Camry four days later parked three blocks from Kinerd’s apartment building in North Minneapolis.

Investigators learned that Allen, Kinerd and Travis had left the apartment less than two hours before the shooting and that they wore the same distinct clothing as the men who followed Becker into the alley, the charges said. Surveillance video showed them returning to the apartment about a half-hour after the killing, and staying there for the night.

Police arrested Kinerd at a gas station near his apartment. A handgun was found hidden on a store shelf where he had ducked down after seeing officers. Forensic ballistic tests came back showing the gun was used in Becker’s killing, the charges said.

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