The deaths of two friends found shot about a mile apart in St. Paul last week have been ruled a homicide and a suicide, authorities said Wednesday.
Ex-Mpls. Henry teammates' deaths ruled homicide, suicide
The two former Minneapolis Henry basketball players were found shot to death a mile apart in St. Paul last week.
August 2, 2012 at 4:52AM
Jordan I. Hughes, 21, who was found with a gunshot wound in the Summit-University area on the night of July 24, was a homicide victim, said Don Gorrie, a spokesman for the Ramsey County medical examiner's office.
Mandela B. Jackson, 22, who was found dead about nine hours later in the Frogtown area, committed suicide, the medical examiner's office ruled.
St. Paul police disclosed the findings on the eve of Hughes' funeral -- set for Thursday.
Whether Jackson was responsible for Hughes' death remained under investigation, police spokesman Sgt. Paul Paulos said on Wednesday.
The two men, basketball teammates at Patrick Henry High School in north Minneapolis, had been hanging out with friends on the night of July 24, Jackson's brother said last week. Authorities went to the family's home looking for Jackson after Hughes was found, the family said.
According to court documents, Jackson had a history of mental health issues that caused him to lash out at others. In April 2009, he was admitted as a psychiatric patient at North Memorial Medical Center, and he appeared to be hallucinating and unpredictable, court records show. A civil commitment was stayed in favor of medication, which he resisted, according to the documents.
On Wednesday night, Jackson's parents said that they learned from police that their son's mental-health issues contributed to the deaths. But the parents did not yet know what role their son may have played in Hughes' death. They were awaiting the results of the police investigation, they said.
They did not dispute the medical examiner's findings.
Their comments came a short time after they saw their son's body for the first time since the shooting.
"He looked so good," his mother, Frances Jackson, said. "It was like he was saying, 'Mama, the pain is over.'"
Anthony Lonetree • 651-925-5036
From small businesses to giants like Target, retailers are benefitting from the $10 billion industry for South Korean pop music, including its revival of physical album sales.
