A jury has found a Carver County man guilty of fatally shooting a motorist after a fender bender in St. Paul.
Carver County man guilty of murder in fatal St. Paul roadside argument
The victim's family intends to pursue a civil suit, according to its lawyer.
April 22, 2021 at 12:57AM
Anthony Trifiletti was found guilty of second-degree murder in connection with the death of Douglas Lewis in May 2020, according to a statement from the Ramsey County Attorney's Office on Monday. Previously, a different jury could not come to a verdict and the judge declared a mistrial in March.
Trifiletti remains in custody with bail conditions unchanged. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 2.
"There was no reason for Mr. Trifiletti to have had any fear for his life to justify the killing of Mr. Lewis," said Brandon Vaughn, attorney for Lewis' family and partner at Robins Kaplan, adding that Trifiletti, who is white, was afraid of Lewis, who was Black.
"Mr. Trifiletti unreasonably had fear of Lewis because he was African American and not because of the minor fender-bender," Vaughn said.
The family intends to pursue a civil suit against Trifiletti, according to Vaughn.
"The crux of the matter is the family is very happy to see that the jury is holding Mr. Trifiletti accountable for the wrongful death of their brother," Vaughn said.
Lewis died on May 1 after a fender-bender crash between the two in St. Paul. Trifiletti said he was acting in self-defense. Police did not find weapons on Lewis at the scene.
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