A St. Paul man has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for hiding out in an alley behind his home last summer and fatally shooting a 22-year-old as he drove past.

Lawrence Danzel Phelps, 31, pleaded guilty in Ramsey County District Court to second-degree unintentional murder while committing a felony last week, before the start of the second day of testimony in his trial in the June 24 killing of Royce D. McKinney on the city’s East Side. Phelps’ brother told police the shooting stemmed from a feud over a previous alleged marijuana theft and shooting, according to the criminal complaint.

A plea agreement included the length of his prison term, which he received Monday from Judge Kellie Charles. He was given credit for nearly 10 months already served in custody.

Phelps was initially charged with second-degree intentional murder. In January, prosecutors added the unintentional murder charge and possession of a firearm after a conviction for a crime of violence. Those charges were dismissed as part of the plea deal.

According to the complaint, officers were called to Van Dyke Street and York Avenue about 9:40 p.m. June 24 on reports of gunshots and a horn sounding. McKinney, of St. Paul, was in the driver’s seat of a Chevrolet Tahoe SUV that had crashed into a boulevard tree.

McKinney, who had a gunshot wound to his upper torso, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said there was a handgun on the driver’s seat of McKinney’s vehicle. It had a full magazine and no round in the chamber.

About 8 a.m. the next day, Phelps’ 17-year-old brother was seen leaving the area with a backpack and law enforcement pulled over the Uber he was riding in. When officers were taking him into custody, he said, “There is a gun in my bag,” and asked, “What am I wanted for, murder?” and then said the backpack wasn’t his.

The teen told police he knew the gun he was arrested with was involved in the murder and that a friend of his mother’s, “Derrick,” was the shooter.

He said McKinney followed them home from Cub Foods, taunted Derrick and scared his mother by revving his engine outside their home. Police talked to the teen’s mom who “denied the existence of a ‘Derrick,’” the complaint says.

Investigators knew the teen had an older brother, Phelps. They reviewed surveillance video from Cub that showed the teen with his 6-year-old nephew and Phelps, but not another person who could be Derrick, the complaint says.

The teen was charged with possession of a firearm by a person under 18, and later requested to talk with investigators again. He said he’d talked to his mother and “feels comfortable now telling the truth about what occurred,” the complaint against Phelps says.

Lawrence Danzel Phelps (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

He said Phelps previously stole marijuana from McKinney. About three months before McKinney’s killing, McKinney shot at Phelps, and casings found at a shooting scene matched McKinney’s firearm, the complaint says.

The teen said he was at Cub on June 24 when he noticed McKinney in a Tahoe, which followed them home. A couple of hours later, the teen was inside with his family and he heard an engine revving outside. His sister looked outside and said it was the Tahoe again. The teen told Phelps, who grabbed a gun and ran outside.

Soon after, the teen “heard several shots and hit the floor with his other family members,” the complaint says.

Phelps came back inside, saying, “I gotta go,” changed his clothes and left the firearm. “Phelps reportedly said that he hid in the alley and when the Tahoe came by, he jumped out to start shooting,” the complaint says.

Officers arrested Phelps on June 28 in South St. Paul. He said he hadn’t been to his family’s address in a couple of weeks, but then said he’d been there earlier in the week. He said it was only to drop off groceries and he’d left. He said he didn’t know anything about a shooting.

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He had warrants from the Minnesota Department of Corrections for a probation violation in an assault case, domestic-related warrants from Dakota County and a theft warrant from Hennepin County, the complaint says.

In August, a BCA report was filed stating Phelps was a major profile DNA match from swabs taken from the grip of the firearm believed to be the murder weapon.

Phelps has three prior felony convictions for crimes of violence that prohibit him from possessing a firearm: aiding and abetting second-degree burglary in April 2013 in Ramsey County, third-degree assault in March 2022 in Ramsey County and domestic assault in January 2023 in Dakota County.

“I’ve seen firsthand what happens when youth voices are left out of decisions that shape our lives. We know what’s happening in our communities—we live it every day.”

City Hall. (Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office.)

When adults talk about the future, they rarely include the people who are going to live in it.

As a student at El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice in Brooklyn, I’ve seen firsthand what happens when youth voices are left out of decisions that shape our lives. We know what’s happening in our communities—we live it every day. We know which teachers stay after school even when they’re not paid to. We know which streets to avoid because of the mounting garbage, which classrooms need more books, and which students need more support.

But no one asks us.

My school is small. It’s rooted in our neighborhood, led by justice, and filled with young people who want to thrive. Some of us want to be lawyers. Others want to be artists or athletes. But we all want the chance to grow into who we are meant to be. That’s hard to do when schools like mine are underfunded, under-appreciated, and overlooked.

It’s not just about education. Our neighborhoods are hit with pollution, housing injustice, and a lack of public investment. Why is it normal to walk past piles of trash or see green space treated like a luxury? Why are immigrant families treated like a threat instead of part of the city’s fabric? These are the issues we talk about—not in press conferences, but in our hallways, lunchrooms, bike rides and walks home from school.

There are solutions. You could literally walk into a school like mine and ask: What do you need? What would make this community stronger? Sometimes, the answer is a new basketball. Sometimes, it’s safer housing for undocumented students. Either way, those answers matter.

That’s why I’m excited about the upcoming “Youth Take the Mic” mayoral forum, where students will ask real questions to the people who say they want to lead this city. It’s a chance to flip the script—where young people aren’t just the ones being talked about, but the ones doing the talking.

So here’s my question for the next mayor: Are you running to help the people who need you most, or just the ones who look good in campaign ads? Will you fund schools equitably? Will you listen to Black and brown students when we say we need more?

Latino students graduate at some of the lowest rates in this country. That’s not because we don’t care. It’s because the system was never built for us in the first place. But we’re still here. We still show up. And we’re ready to lead—if you’re ready to listen.

Noemi Santiago is a 10th grade student at El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice. Fernando Sánchez Carriel is the communications manager at El Puente.

The post Opinion: If You Want to Lead NYC, Start By Listening to Us appeared first on City Limits.

Victoria Elsmore, a Ramsey County court referee in the family division, has been appointed by Gov. Tim Walz to fill the Second Judicial District seat left open with the February death of Patrick Diamond.

Elsmore has been a court referee for the Second Judicial District, which encompasses Ramsey County, since January 2023, presiding over dissolution, custody, support, domestic abuse and harassment matters. She was previously a partner at Collins, Buckley, Sauntry & Haugh, where she practiced family law.

Victoria Elsmore (Courtesy of the Office of Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan)

Elsmore will be chambered at the downtown St. Paul courthouse.

“Victoria Elsmore will be a familiar face and a welcome addition to an already dynamic bench,” Walz said Wednesday in a statement announcing the appointment. “She is filling the seat of the late Judge Patrick Diamond, someone who left a lasting legacy on this court and community.

Diamond, who served more than a dozen years on the Ramsey County District Court bench, suffered cardiac arrest in late January and died on Feb. 9 at the University of Minnesota Hospital, surrounded by loved ones. He was 64.

Elsmore’s community involvement includes serving on the Board of Trustees for Mitchell Hamline School of Law, an adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, and the immediate past president of the Ramsey County Bar Association. She earned her B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and her J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law.

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By BRUCE SHIPKOWSKI

CHATSWORTH, N.J. (AP) — A fast-moving wildfire engulfing part of New Jersey’s Pine Barrens has not resulted in any injuries, officials said, though it’s expected to grow before forecast rain later this week.

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The fire in southern New Jersey’s Lacey and Ocean townships grew to roughly 19 square miles and could continue to burn for days, officials said during an update on Wednesday. No one has been injured so far in the blaze, and 5,000 residents were evacuated but have been permitted to return home. A single commercial building and some vehicles were destroyed in the fire.

“This is still a very active fire,” said Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette. “As we continue to get this under full control the expectation is that the number of acres will grow and will grow in a place that is unpopulated.”

Officials said the fire is believed to be the second-worst in the last two decades, smaller only than a 2007 blaze that burned 26 square miles.

The Garden State Parkway, one of New Jersey’s busiest highways, also reopened Wednesday morning after officials closed a roughly 7-mile stretch in the southern part of the state.

Acting Gov. Tahesha Way declared a state of emergency early Wednesday as officials said they’ve contained about 35% of the wildfire.

Video released by the state agency overseeing the fire service showed billowing white and black clouds of smoke, intense flames engulfing pines and firefighters dousing a charred structure.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, authorities said.

Forest fires are a common occurrence in the Pine Barrens, a 1.1 million-acre state and federally protected reserve about the size of the Grand Canyon lying halfway between Philadelphia to the west and the Atlantic coast to the east. The region, with its quick-draining sandy soil, is amid peak forest fire season. The trees are still developing leaves, humidity remains low and winds can kick up, drying out the forest floor.

It’s a vast wilderness in the country’s most densely populated state. LaTourette, the DEP commissioner, said the fire is straddling an area on the edge of wilderness and residential areas.

“It’s the interface where the environment and development meet,” he said.

The area had been under a severe drought until recently, when early spring rains helped dampen the region, but officials cautioned recent low humidity and a dry stretch have heightened the risk of fire.

The Jersey Central Power and Light Company cut power to about 25,000 customers at the request of the Forest Fire Service and the wildfire’s command post Tuesday evening, including thousands in Barnegat Township. A spokesman for the company said Wednesday that some customers could have power restored later in the day.

“This is for the safety of crews battling the fire,” the company wrote on X.

Debi Schaffer was caught in gridlocked traffic after evacuating with her two dogs while her husband agreed to stay with their 22 chickens, The Press of Atlantic City reported.

“I wanted to take them in the car with me; can you imagine 22 chickens in a car?” she told the newspaper.

Around her Waretown house it was “like a war zone,” she said, describing smoke, sirens and the buzz of helicopters.

The site of the fire is near an alpaca farm. The farm said in a Facebook post that the property wasn’t threatened and all of the animals were safe.

The blaze is the second major forest fire in the region in less than a week.

Associated Press writer Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey, contributed to this report.