Murder charge: Man, 30, shot during drug deal in St. Paul home occupied by children and others

A 30-year-old man was fatally shot during a drug deal in a St. Paul home occupied by his fiancée, her mother and a number of children, according to charges filed against the suspected gunman.

Brian D. Booth, 20, of St. Paul, was charged in Ramsey County District Court with second-degree intentional murder in connection with the death of Kiefer M. Morgan, 30, in the 1100 block of Pacific Street.

Booth's criminal history in Minnesota includes two convictions for robbery in 2019. He also has an illegal firearms possession case pending in Ramsey County.

Court records do not list an attorney for Booth, who had a court hearing Wednesday and remains jailed in lieu of $1 million bail.

According to the complaint:

Police arrived about 6:40 p.m. on July 6 and located a wounded Morgan on the dining room floor. They also saw a bag of marijuana on the living room floor. Emergency responders declared Morgan dead at the scene.

Morgan's fiancée said three males came to the home asking for an ounce of marijuana. One came inside while the others waited outside, she said.

The fiancée went upstairs and soon heard a loud noise and then gunfire. She came downstairs, saw Morgan had been shot and began CPR.

Morgan's fiancée said he had been speaking to someone about a marijuana purchase on a phone police later determined was Booth's.

The fiancee's mother saw Morgan talking with a man in the kitchen. Morgan walked the man to the front door and let him out.

She said Morgan then let inside one of the other men, whom she said made her nervous. Morgan and the man were making a marijuana deal, she said.

As the fiancee's mother went to tend to her grandchildren in the living room, two of the males began kicking an exterior door. She said she grabbed a chair and tried to block the door "with all her might," the complaint read.

As the door was being kicking continued, shots were fired. The grandmother hustled the children into the back bedroom.

Morgan was shot five times including twice in the chest.

Booth was arrested July 8 in Ames, Iowa. A police search of Booth's home turned up live rounds of .40-caliber ammunition.

Morgan's fiancée identified Booth through a photo lineup of being the man who was in the home at the time of the shooting. Police booked Booth into the Ramsey County jail Tuesday.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482