A 17-year-old was sentenced Friday to 25½ years in prison for his role in the stabbing death of his friend near Harding High School in St. Paul, a killing that allegedly was over a threat sent through Snapchat.

Jay’Mier Givens (Courtesy of Waynesha Givens)

Jay’Mier Keymari Givens, 19, of St. Paul, was killed in the Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood on March 31. He’d been stabbed 22 times, with most of the wounds to his back and one to his neck, and was found by first responders lying face up and unresponsive on a sidewalk near Harding. He had a pulse, but was pronounced dead about a half-hour later at Regions Hospital.

Police arrested Jeremy Joe Davila, St. Paul, who turned 17 the day of the killing, and a 14-year-old boy. Last month, Davila waived juvenile certification and pleaded guilty in Ramsey County adult court as charged to aiding and abetting second-degree intentional murder. He agreed to the presumptive guideline sentence of 25½ years to avoid an aggravated sentence.

According to the complaint against Davila, the 14-year-old told police that both he and Davila had knives and repeatedly stabbed Givens. The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office said that because of the 14-year-old’s age it could not provide information about him under Minnesota data privacy laws.

‘Just horrible to me’

Givens graduated from Journeys Secondary School in St. Paul four months before his murder.

On Friday, his mother, Waynesha Givens, pulled out his graduation hat and diploma and showed them to the courtroom during her victim impact statement, saying: “It was not easy getting there, but we did it.”

She gave birth to her son at age 14, she said, adding “knowing that he only had this short time on Earth is just horrible to me. … But Jay’Mier is still here with us, I feel it in my heart. And he made me who I am today.”

She said her son, Givens and the boy were friends.

“Jay’Mier spoke so highly of Jeremy, not one bad thing ever,” she said.

“I thought that he was your homey, bro,” Jay’Mier’s uncle DeWayne Givens said while looking at Davila, who kept his head down for much of the hearing.

Jay’Mier’s aunt Rodnisha Love said he turned 19 the month he was murdered.

“That these kids took his life is not fair,” she said.

Snapchat threat

Givens’ cellphone showed he received a call at 10:04 p.m. on March 31. There were also multiple text messages between 10:07 and 10:34 p.m., during which someone from the number said they had a stolen Kia vehicle and wanted Givens to come “smoke n chill.”

Givens’ brother told police that Givens had left the home that night “to smoke” with his two friends, who he identified as “JC” and “Jeremy.”

The 14-year-old’s girlfriend told investigators that Givens had threatened over Snapchat to kill her 1½-year-old son and that the 14-year-old was upset about it, the complaint says.

After police arrested the 14-year-old, he said they’d texted Givens and “fabricated the story about the stolen Kia … because they knew it would interest Givens.” He stated, “that was a coverup” and “there was no car.”

The mother of Davila, who was also the foster mother of the 14-year-old, told police she hadn’t seen either teen since April 1, the day that Davila told the family they needed to leave “because it was not safe” and mentioned retaliation, according to the complaint.

The 14-year-old told police that when he, Davila and Givens met up and were smoking marijuana, he asked Givens “why he said that stuff” about his girlfriend’s son. He said he and Davila pulled out knives and stabbed Givens, adding: “We both did it multiple times.”

On April 8, police carried out a search warrant at the address linked to Davila and the 14-year-old on Margaret Street between Hazelwood and Germain streets. They found two knives hidden in basement rafters.

Admission in court

At his Dec. 5 plea hearing, Davila, upon questioning by his attorney Bobby Champion, said the three agreed to meet to smoke marijuana and walked into a wooded area, just west of the high school.

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Davila agreed with his attorney’s assertion that an “unpleasant” conversation broke out between the three of them in the woods, according to a transcript of the hearing filed in court.

Davila said he pulled out a knife, as did the 14-year-old, and they both stabbed Givens, who then tried to run away.

On Friday, Davila’s attorney told Ramsey County District Judge Jacob Kraus that he was remorseful and has taken responsibility for what he did.

Davila declined to address the court before hearing his sentence. The judge asked whether he was sure about that, to which the teen said, “May he rest in peace.”

EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.

Colorado Bureau of Investigation officials on Friday confirmed the 2005 death of renowned author and journalist Hunter S. Thompson was a result of suicide, almost six months after the state started reviewing the case by request of the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office.

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State investigators started reviewing the case after Thompson’s widow, Anita Thompson, reached out to Pitkin County Sheriff Michael Buglione with concerns about her late husband’s death at their home, Owl Farm, in Woody Creek on Feb. 20, 2005.

“While we have always believed the original investigation was conducted properly, we recognized the importance of an independent review for the Thompson family,” Buglione said in a statement. “CBI’s conclusions reaffirm the original findings and, we hope, provide reassurance and clarity.”

Hunter S. Thompson was 67 years old when he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home near Aspen. Family members said he had dealt with suicidal ideation and had instructed them on what to do with his body.

CBI’s case review included looking at original the investigation records from Pitkin County and autopsy report from forensic pathologist Dr. Dean Havlik; interviewing Anita Thompson, Hunter S. Thompson’s son Juan Thompson and former daughter-in-law Jennifer Thompson; along with original lead investigators Ron Ryan, county coroner Steven Ayers and former sheriff Joe DiSalvo.

State officials also re-examined the scene of his death, which was necessary because “most original physical evidence and photographs had been disposed of by the PCSO in accordance with non-criminal case retention schedules,” the CBI said Friday.

Investigators also did a trajectory analysis and scene reconstruction, which was consistent with all previous reports.

“The CBI’s review did not uncover any new physical evidence, facts, or circumstances to support a conclusion different from the 2005 investigation,” agency officials said.

Colorado officials also did not find any inconsistent information between the follow-up interviews and scene examination and original investigation.

“Original crime scene photographs, recovered by Anita Thompson, were reviewed and corroborated that Thompson’s body was aligned with the bullet trajectory, supporting the finding that the body was not moved or ‘staged’ after death,” CBI officials said.

“All speculative theories could not be substantiated,” state officials noted later.

Hunter S. Thompson was best known for developing gonzo journalism, an often-hyperbolic style of writing in which the author includes themselves as a main figure in the story.

He worked as a national affairs correspondent for Rolling Stone and penned the semi-autobiographical novel “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” which was developed into a 1998 film starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro.

But Hunter S. Thompson went on to experience “physical and mental decline” and also idolized author Ernest Hemingway, who died by suicide, CBI officials said.

In a New York Times story published Sunday, family members said he showed signs that he planned to take his own life, like watching his favorite movie with his grandson and giving away gifts before his death.

Anita Thompson thanked CBI officials for their work in a statement released by the agency.

“This allows all of us who loved Hunter to move forward with a clean conscience,” she said.

The House of Representatives passed a spending package Thursday that would bump federal funding for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development—backing off from drastic cuts previously proposed by the White House, which advocates say would have devastated city housing and homelessness programs.

Homes in Brooklyn. (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

The House of Representatives passed a spending package Thursday that would bump federal funding for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development—backing off from drastic cuts previously proposed by the White House which advocates say would have devastated New York housing and homelessness programs.

The appropriations bill, which the Senate is expected to vote on next week and which would fund HUD until the end of the current fiscal year through September, is a sharp departure from President Donald Trump’s budget request released last spring, which sought to slash HUD spending by a whopping 44 percent.

That would have had serious implications for New York City, where funds from Washington make up a significant share of local housing agencies’ operating budgets and where more than 350,000 low-income households participate in federal rental assistance programs like Section 8 and Section 9.

But the latest package, which Trump’s budget office said it supports, earmarks $77.3 billion for HUD, a a $7.3 billion increase from the previous fiscal year, according to an analysis from the New York Housing Conference. Funds for Section 8 vouchers—both project-based and tenant-based rental assistance—and Continuum of Care homelessness assistance grants would all get a boost, though money for public housing would decrease by almost $687 million.

That’s not welcome news for NYCHA, the largest public housing system in the country and home to 1 in 16 New Yorkers. The housing authority has $78 billion in repair needs over the coming years, to address persistent problems like mold, leaks, and broken elevators.

“NYHC is deeply disappointed to see funding cuts proposed to public housing. Increased funding for public housing operations and capital needs is desperately needed,” the advocacy organization said in statement earlier this week.

Lawmakers in D.C. have until Jan. 30 to pass a final budget and avoid another government shutdown.

Here’s what else happened in housing this week—

ICYMI, from City Limits:

The city is facing a significant budget gap, according to the city comptroller, in part due to the previous administration under-budgeting for CityFHEPS rental vouchers, the costs of which have ballooned in recent years. New Mayor Zohran Mamdani previously said he would expand eligibility for the program, a key tool for moving people out of homeless shelters and into housing.

Students from the Pratt Institute are teaming up with longtime South Bronx group Mothers on the Move to explore how hemp—a building material rarely used in housing—could help retrofit and improve air quality at apartment buildings in the neighborhood, where residents suffer from some of highest adult asthma rates in the city.

ICYMI, from other local newsrooms:

Summit Properties, the new buyer for a troubled portfolio of more than 5,000 rent stabilized apartments that fell into bankruptcy, landed on the Public Advocate’s “worst landlord” watch list, Gothamist reports.

The city is testing out a guaranteed income program which provides monthly cash payments of $1,200 to participating homeless youth, according to The City.

New Mayor Mamdani wants to build 200,000 “union built” homes in the coming years. That’ll be hard—”if not impossible”—sources tell Politico.

The New York City Council passed a bill last month requiring landlords to provide air conditioning to any tenant who asks for it by 2030. But it doesn’t address rising utility costs that keep many New Yorkers from using their ACs even when they want to, City and State reports.

To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

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The post HUD Poised for Likely Budget Boost, And What Else Happened This Week in Housing appeared first on City Limits.

In this era of satellite and cable and streaming television, the Minnesota Wild are going old school for a quartet of games this season. On Friday the team announced that four upcoming games will be available not only on FanDuel Sports Network North, they will also be simulcast on over-the-air television.

The games available on free TV begin Thursday, Jan. 29 when the Wild host Calgary at 7 p.m. In addition to FanDuel, that game can be seen on KSTC-TV, which is channel 45 in the Twin Cities. Games on April 11 at Nashville and April 14 versus Anaheim will also be available on channel 45, while the Wild’s Feb. 27 game at Utah can be seen on KSTP-TV, channel 5.

The forur games will also be available on KSAX-TV in Alexandria, WDIO-TV in Duluth, KRWF-TV in Redwood Falls and KAAL-TV in Rochester – all of which are owned by Hubbard Broadcasting. This marks the first time since the 2010-11 NHL season that Wild games will be broadcast on over-the-air television.

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