St. Olaf football player Matthew Lee was fatally shot inside a South St. Paul home early Friday after another man tried to rob the shooter, charges filed Tuesday say.
Terrell Anthony Ranzy, 19, of St. Paul, fired several shots when Keith Woodson Cox, 20, pulled out a gun, pointed it at Ranzy and said “I ain’t going to lie, I need you to give me all that (expletive),” referring to Ranzy’s gun, charges say.
Lee, a junior linebacker at the private liberal arts college in Northfield, was hit twice by the gunfire and died at the scene. Woodson Cox had gunshot wounds to his arms and torso and was rushed to the hospital.
A witness told police that Lee was an “innocent bystander,” according to a criminal complaint in Dakota County District Court charging Ranzy with second-degree unintentional murder, second-degree manslaughter and possession of a firearm by an ineligible person.
Lee was a 2023 South St. Paul High School graduate who went home to South St. Paul to visit his mother, grandfather and friends because the football team did not have a game Saturday, St. Olaf football coach James Kilian told the Pioneer Press on Friday.
Lee, an economics major, was a “great teammate. Friends with everybody on the team,” Kilian said. “Smiled. Always had a great attitude.”
Ranzy ran from the home in the 300 block of Second Avenue South after the shooting and was arrested about two hours later hiding in a shed three blocks away, the complaint says.
Ranzy had a first appearance on the charges Tuesday and remained jailed in lieu of $750,000, which was requested by the prosecution.
His attorney, assistant public defender Alex Vian, asked that he be released on $10,000 conditional bail, arguing that he was robbed at gunpoint and that he defended himself. He’s due back in court Sept. 25.
Hanging out
According to the complaint, officers responded to the scene about 3:45 a.m. Friday.
People outside of the house told officers an unresponsive man was in an upstairs bedroom. Officers tried to open the door, but Lee’s body was blocking it. Officers could not find a pulse and he was declared dead.
Woodson Cox was also in the bedroom with a tourniquet on his left arm.
A black Glock handgun was on a table in the room.
Officers were told there were several people in the home and in the bedroom at the time of the shooting. After speaking with witnesses, they learned the following, according to the complaint:
Woodson Cox, Ranzy, Lee and others were hanging out that evening and eventually went to the South St. Paul home around 3 a.m.
Terrell Anthony Ranzy (Courtesy of the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office)
In the bedroom, Woodson Cox and Ranzy each had a gun and were comparing them. Woodson Cox’s gun was a Glock 19 with a tan magazine. Ranzy’s gun was an “XD” with a black magazine.
Woodson Cox told Ranzy that he should always “keep one up top,” meaning keep a round in the chamber, the complaint states.
Woodson Cox and Lee went into a bathroom together next to the bedroom. While in the bathroom, Woodson Cox told Lee and a witness that he was going to rob Ranzy of his gun. Both Lee and the witness told Woodson Cox not to do it.
After leaving the bathroom, they returned to the bedroom at which time Woodson Cox pulled out his gun and tried robbing Ranzy of his gun. Ranzy fell backward onto the bed and fired his gun into the ceiling, then multiple times from a crouched position, hitting both Woodson Cox and Lee.
The witness said he saw both Woodson Cox and Ranzy fire their guns. Two people in the room jumped out of the window to avoid the gunfire.
Prohibited from possessing guns
In searching the bedroom, officers located 14 discharged casings from two guns.
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After the shooting, Ranzy fled the house, but came back a short time later. He wanted to retrieve his phone, but was not allowed back in and he left again.
Officers found him in the shed in the 500 block of First Avenue South. A search of the shed and the surrounding area did not turn up a firearm.
Ranzy is prohibited from possessing firearms because of a Jan. 31 conviction for threats of violence out of Ramsey County. Court records show he threatened to shoot a family member with a gun at their St. Paul home in July 2024. He was sentenced to three years’ probation.
Ranzy has been wanted since Jan. 9, when he failed to show up for an arraignment in Ramsey County on a misdemeanor citation for possession of an open bottle of alcohol at Sixth and Cedar streets in downtown St. Paul, court records show.
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