A St. Paul gang member has admitted in court — for a second time — that he fatally shot a 20-year-old man on Raspberry Island nearly two years ago after a dispute over a rap song.

Romello Markell Ifonlaja-Randle, 25, of Maplewood, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court to intentional second-degree murder, not premeditated, and possession of a firearm with no serial number in the killing of 20-year-old Marcus Anthony Baker Jr., of St. Paul, at the Mississippi River park on Aug. 14, 2023.

Marcus Anthony Baker Jr. (Courtesy of Sade Whitmore)

Ifonlaja-Randle pleaded guilty to the killing in October, however, a judge allowed him to withdraw the plea in February after a mistake over his criminal history score meant he faced more years in prison than what was outlined in his agreement with the prosecution. The case moved toward a trial.

After this week’s plea, Ifonlaja-Randle’s new sentencing was scheduled for Aug. 5.

The state will continue to argue that Ifonlaja-Randle receive a prison term of just over 32 years, which would fall in the middle of state sentencing guidelines, said Ramsey County Attorney’s Office spokesman Dennis Gerhardstein.

Ifonlaja-Randle’s attorney will continue to seek the low end of the guidelines, which is just over 27 years, according to the latest plea document.

Two punches, three shots

Ifonlaja-Randle told the court that he was at Raspberry Island with friends and intended to set up equipment to shoot a music video.

Witnesses said four to five males approached Baker, who was in a Chevrolet Suburban SUV. One told Baker to shut off his music, which was by a local rap artist affiliated with East Side gangs, according to the criminal complaint.

Baker asked Ifonlaja-Randle if he was from the West Side and he replied, “the dub,” the complaint states. After Baker didn’t turn off the music, Ifonlaja-Randle hit Baker twice in the face and then shot him when he tried to get out of the vehicle. Ifonlaja-Randle ran across the bridge.

Romello Markell Ifonlaja-Randle (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

Ifonlaja-Randle said in court in October that during a conversation with Baker, whom he didn’t know, he pulled out a 9mm and shot him three times.

“And what did you think would happen when you shot him?” Ifonlaja-Randle’s attorney asked him, according to the transcript.

“Nothing. I didn’t … I didn’t think,” he replied.

“But it was highly likely that with three bullets, he would die. Is that fair to say?” his attorney asked.

“I suppose, yes,” he replied.

Officers sent to the scene about 9:10 p.m. found Baker in the back seat of the SUV, and he was pronounced dead at Regions Hospital. An autopsy showed Baker was shot in the right hip, right elbow and abdomen, which perforated his chest, diaphragm, kidney and back.

DNA evidence

Officers were sent back to Raspberry Island two days after the shooting to collect a handgun lying on rocks on the south side of the bridge that connects Raspberry Island to Harriet Island Boulevard. A test firing of the gun connected it to a casing found at the murder scene.

An analysis by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension found Ifonlaja‐Randle’s DNA on the gun’s laser/light attachment and Baker’s DNA on the gun’s muzzle area, the complaint says.

Investigators analyzed Ifonlaja‐Randle’s phone records and found he was in the Raspberry Island area at the time Baker was killed.

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Police said Ifonlaja‐Randle meets criteria to be considered a member of the Shoota Boy gang, which is associated with St. Paul’s West Side.

Baker’s mother, Sade Whitmore, told the Pioneer Press her son was a graduate of Simley High School in Inver Grove Heights and that he was not a member of a gang.

Six other charges prosecutors filed against Ifonlaja‐Randle in the case will be dismissed at his sentencing as part of the plea agreement: two counts of crime committed for the benefit of a gang; second-degree unintentional murder while committing felony assault; second-degree assault; possession of a firearm by a person who was ineligible due to a conviction of a crime of violence; and second-degree attempted murder for firing into the SUV, which included others besides Baker.

Ifonlaja‐Randle has three prior felony convictions as an adult — two first-degree aggravated robberies and fourth-degree assault — and each make him ineligible to possess firearms.

While healthcare and social service providers, the solar and renewable energy industry and individual counties and municipalities are grappling with the many varied repercussions of the so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill,” some financial planners are applauding key aspects of the 800-page budget document recently signed into law by President Donald Trump.

Given how wide-ranging the legislation is, it may take a while for everyday tax filers — including seniors with significant retirement savings — to understand how the details impact them.

“A lot of people know some things are changing, but they don’t know what,” said Justin Halverson, a partner with Great Waters Financial in Shoreview, which specializes in retirement planning.

For “high earners, and even seniors that aren’t high earners, there’s good news there,” Halvorson said. “High earners, they’re getting the expanded tax brackets made permanent. They’re getting the state and local tax deductions.”

While projections vary, budget experts with the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget have estimated the legislation will add $3 trillion to the national debt, at least $663 billion directly related to new tax cuts, the extended clean fuel tax credit, health savings account expansions, factory expensing and “Trump accounts” for kids.

Like Halvorson, Kristine Tidgren, director of Iowa State University’s Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation, has taken a deep dive into those and other tax changes.

Here’s a quick overview of what some of those tax savings are, from birth to estate hand-offs.

Trump accounts

Kids born between 2024 and 2028 are eligible to receive a $1,000 investment deposit from the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. The goal is to encourage young people to save money. In addition, parents can put up to $5,000 per year in a tax-deferred diversified fund on behalf of their children under the age of 8, with the aim of watching the funds grow like an Individual Retirement Account, or an IRA for kids. Employers, nonprofits and government entities also can contribute, up to different limits.

The standard deduction

During the first Trump presidency, the Tax Cuts and Job Act of 2017 nearly doubled the standard deduction that individual filers could claim on their taxes, making itemized deductions less of a priority for many. The Big, Beautiful Bill makes permanent those standard deductions, as well as the 2017 ordinary income tax brackets, which is a relief to some in the financial planning industry who feared they would revert back as scheduled in 2026.

“If that went backwards, we had a lot of planning in place for if that were to happen,” Halvorson said.

Instead of being cut in half again, the standard deductions went up somewhat, growing from $15,000 to $15,750 for singles, and from $30,000 to $31,500 for married couples filing jointly.

Tips and overtime

The legislation creates temporary tax deductions through the year 2028 for up to $25,000 in qualified tips and up to $12,500 in overtime pay, both with income restrictions.

The SALT deduction

The State and Local Tax — known as SALT — deduction has long allowed taxpayers who itemize deductions to subtract certain state and local taxes, including property taxes, from their federal income before they calculate their tax liability. The SALT cap deduction, which was previously $10,000, has been temporarily raised to $40,000, with annual 1% increases scheduled through 2029.

“That’s going to primarily benefit higher-wage earners,” Halvorson said.

The senior deduction

Individual tax filers 65 or over can add up to $6,000 to their standard deduction through the year 2028, provided they’re not earning more than $75,000, or $150,000 for a married couple. That figure tapers out gradually for higher incomes, disappearing entirely for individuals earning more than $175,000 and couples earning more than $250,000.

That should be of special interest to seniors who have retired from the workplace but have yet to dip into their IRA or another retirement investment account.

“That’s a big one for seniors — a $6,000 senior deduction that can help reduce taxable income,” Halvorson said. “Either it’s going to lower their taxes, or it’s going to give them opportunities to do things that are strategic, like ROTH conversions or spend-downs.”

Estate tax exemption

As Baby Boomers and those of the Greatest Generation pass on, many are leaving a house — or two, or more — to their children and grandchildren. The greatest wealth transfer that the nation has ever seen is just over the horizon, and it just got easier to pass along those funds without paying hefty estate taxes. The Big, Beautiful Bill makes permanent, as of 2026, a $15 million-per-person estate tax exemption that was scheduled to revert to a lower amount. For couples, the exemption will be $30 million, indexed each year to inflation.

Health savings account expansions

The Big, Beautiful Bill expands the uses of health savings accounts in a handful of ways.

Employees enrolled in high-deductible health plans can waive the deductible and use their HSAs to cover the costs of telehealth without impacting their HSA eligibility, a benefit that the government allowed during the pandemic and then extended several times on a temporary basis. It’s now permanent, according to Stinson Law.

Eligibility for HSAs has expanded to employees who hold bronze-level or catastrophic care medical plans. Other changes allow HSAs to cover direct primary care services that charge a flat monthly fee. In addition, the annual limit for a dependent care flexible spending account (FSA) increases from $5,000 to $7,500 at the end of this year.

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When he first started Go Girl Flag Football, longtime Rosemount football coach Jeff Erdmann was simply trying to grow the sport at a grassroots level.

Not in his wildest dreams did he imagine that summer league would result in the Rosemount girls flag football team getting to represent Minnesota on the national stage.

That’s the reality for Rosemount this week as it will compete at the NFL Flag Football Championships in Canton, Ohio. The competition will take place from Thursday to Sunday with coverage on ESPN.

“There are going to be some great teams here,” Erdmann said. “We’re excited to see how we do against them.”

It’s fitting that Rosemount will be the representative from Minnesota considering it was a part of a pilot program put on by the Vikings last year that also featured Minnesota teams La Crescent-Hokah, Pine Island and Houston.

The smashing success of that pilot program paved the way for more than 50 teams to compete this year, with Mahtomedi defeating La Crescent-Hokah to win the state championship last month at TCO Stadium.

“Honestly, seeing the growth of the sport at such an exponential level has been more than we could’ve hoped for,” said Emily Weinberg, coordinator of youth and high school football for the Vikings. “It’s been really inspiring to see how much passion there is for it across the state. I can’t even predict what next year is going to look like. We’re so excited about where we’re at, and where we’ll continue to go.”

It’s a good bet Rosemount will be smack dab in the middle of the conversation as the sport continues to make strides in Minnesota. The group earned the opportunity to compete at the NFL Flag Football Championships by winning the Vikings Regional Tournament in Blaine on May 10.

“That was a great experience for us,” Erdmann said. “We lost our first game, and it was fun to see how we responded to that. We knew we were the underdogs, and we ended up coming back and beating the No. 2 seed and the No. 1 seed to get here. Those are the moments that they are going to remember forever.”

As she reflected on her journey through the sport, Rosemount quarterback Talia Vescio brought up how it all started back in middle school when she decided to sign up for the Go Girl Flag Football. Now she and her teammates are preparing to step into the spotlight.

“We’re ecstatic,” Vescio said. “This is probably the most excited I’ve ever been for something. It’s unbelievable to me how much growth there’s been in such a short amount of time. We’re glad we get to be a part of it.”

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By REBECCA SANTANA, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Travelers giddy about being able to keep their shoes on while walking through TSA checkpoints at the airport again may have something else to look forward to: changes to how much liquid they can carry.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Wednesday during a conference hosted by “The Hill” that she is questioning “everything TSA does” and spoke of possible changes to the amount of liquids travelers can tote in their carry-on baggage.

“The liquids, I’m questioning. So that may be the next big announcement is what size your liquids need to be,” Noem said. “We have put in place in TSA a multilayered screening process that allows us to change some of how we do security and screening so it’s still as safe.”

She gave no details about precisely what those changes might be or how quickly travelers could expect to see them.

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Under the Transportation and Security Administration’s current guidance, travelers can carry liquids in travel-sized containers 3.4 ounces or less per item in their carry-on bag. Those containers must be placed in a one-quart resealable plastic bag. Bigger containers must go in checked baggage, though there are exceptions for medications and baby formula.

Noem announced on July 8 that travelers were no longer required to take their shoes off while going through screening after a pilot program showed TSA had the equipment needed to keep airports and aircraft safe while allowing people to keep their shoes on.

That policy had been in place since 2006, several years after “shoe bomber” Richard Reid’s failed attempt to take down a flight from Paris to Miami in late 2001.

The limits on liquids were triggered by a 2006 incident where authorities foiled a plot to used liquid explosives smuggled aboard carry-on luggage to blow up planes.

Noem also laid out her vision for the future of airport travel during the talk Wednesday.

“Hopefully, the future of an airport, where I’m looking to go is that you walk in the door with your carry-on suitcase, you walk through a scanner and go right to your plane,” Noem said. “It takes you one minute.”