Former boyfriend charged in slaying of St. Paul family
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
A 26-year-old St. Paul man is facing three murder counts after he admitted to police that he’d shot a woman and her two children on Saturday.
TeKeith Jones allegedly shot D’Zondria Wallace, 30, multiple times, then turned and shot her 14-year-old daughter La’Porsha 10 times and her 11-year-old son Ja’Corbie five times before fleeing the family’s East Side apartment on Saturday afternoon.
That’s according to the criminal complaint filed today against Jones in Ramsey County.
The charges say St. Paul police were called to Wallace’s apartment to check on her Saturday afternoon, and that Wallace assured officers she was OK.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
Police returned a short time later after a report of a shooting and found D’Zondria and La’Porsha dead, and Ja’Corbie wounded. First responders asked Ja’Corbie who’d shot him and the boy identified Jones shortly before he also died of his gunshot wounds.
Using social media and surveillance video, police tracked Jones to another apartment on St. Paul’s East Side, and arrested him there. They also recovered a 9 mm handgun with an extended magazine.
The charges say Jones initially denied knowing anything about the shooting, but eventually admitted killing Wallace and her children, saying he believed he was helping them. The complaint says Wallace’s nephew told investigators that Jones had fired a gun at Wallace in December, but missed. There was no record of a police report of that shooting.
In a release, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said, “My heart sinks to know that a mother and her two children were taken from us in such a senseless and violent way. We will do everything in our power to bring justice to the victims and our community in this case.”
Jones was scheduled for a first court appearance late Tuesday morning.
The family has established a GoFundMe page to help pay for funerals and memorials for the three. It has raised nearly $35,000 so far.
