Assault, 2 shootings this week push St. Paul's annual homicide record to 38

The record had been 34 set in 1992 and matched last year.

December 29, 2021 at 6:43PM
Police converged Tuesday, Dec. 29, in the Frogtown neighborhood of St. Paul, where a man was shot to death. (St. Paul Police Department/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

St. Paul's annual record for homicides has grown by three this week to 38 after two men were shot and another man died from an assault many days earlier, police said Wednesday.

The city's one-year record had been 34, set in 1992 and matched last year.

No arrests have been announced in any of these latest killings.

A man was shot about 10:15 p.m. Tuesday in a house in the 500 block of Blair Avenue, police said.

Officers arrived to "a chaotic scene," where they found a man with a gunshot wound, a statement from police said. He was taken by emergency responders to Regions Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to police.

Police late Wednesday afternoon identified the man as Jarrell R. Kirk, 31, of St. Paul.

A day earlier, a man was shot in the chest shortly before 10 p.m. in the 900 block of Rice Street, police said.

He was taken to Regions and died there several hours later, according to police. He was identified Wednesday afternoon as Kenneth L. Davis Jr., 44. Police did not provide a city of residence for Davis.

On Monday, a 51-year-old man was found dead in his apartment in 600 block of N. Snelling Avenue.

Carlos Venceslado Rocha called police to his apartment on Dec. 20 to report he'd been punched by someone in the building. At the time, officers took a report and medics responded, but Rocha was not taken to a hospital.

On Monday, Fire Department personnel checking on him located his body. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office determined that he died due to injuries from the assault.

"Investigators with the department's homicide, forensic services and video management units are working to piece together what led to the altercation and who is responsible for the man's death," said a police statement issued Wednesday afternoon. "Investigators do not believe the incident was random and say there is no immediate threat to the public."

Anyone with information about any of these cases is urged to call police at 651-266-5650.

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Paul Walsh

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Paul Walsh is a general assignment reporter at the Star Tribune. He wants your news tips, especially in and near Minnesota.

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