Murder charges: Gun-toting, masked teens targeted victim for robbery in NE. Minneapolis

Two teenagers were charged Monday in the shooting death last week of a man they targeted for robbery as he sat in his car in northeast Minneapolis.

Jered Ohsman, 16, of Coon Rapids, was charged by juvenile petition in Hennepin County District Court with two counts of second-degree murder in connection with the June 11 killing of Steven Markey, 39, of Plymouth.

A 15-year-old boy also was charged in juvenile court in connection with the case. Because the teen is under 16, prosecutors are unable at this time to identify him or the counts filed against him.

Both boys remain in custody, and the County Attorney's Office will seek to have both tried as adults.

"These two juveniles committed at least two crimes that day, and because of excellent investigations by Minneapolis and New Hope police departments, these two youths were arrested and currently face charges in the juvenile court system," Deputy County Attorney David Brown said.

According to prosecutors:

About 4:50 p.m., Markey was parked near the intersection of 14th Avenue and NE Tyler Street.

The teens spotted him and decided to rob him and steal his car.

Both drew semi-automatic pistols and had bandannas over their faces as they approached the car. Ohsman told police that he ordered Markey out of the vehicle and shot him after seeing the man reach for something.

The 15-year-old told police that Ohsman fired first because Markey had laughed at them.

The bleeding Markey drove off on Central Avenue, and struck a building moments after the gunfire and barely a block away.

The younger defendant said he shot at the car as it left the scene.

The teens ran through alleys behind buildings on Tyler.

They hid a backpack under some stairs in the 1200 block of Tyler, and police recovered it with both pistols inside.

Sometime after 8 p.m. that night, an SUV was stolen from outside a home on 28th Street in St. Louis Park.

At 2:25 a.m. the next morning, New Hope police were called to a cellphone store where a burglary was in progress.

Officers arrived and saw someone dressed in black run from the business and jump into the front passenger side of the stolen SUV.

The vehicle sped off, and police pursued. About a mile later, the SUV turned onto the ramp for northbound Hwy. 169, but the driver lost control and crashed through a chain-link fence. A gun was recovered by police from the SUV's center console.

The 15-year-old and Ohsman were arrested, and Ohsman was charged with third-degree burglary, motor vehicle theft and fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle for the offenses that occurred after the killing.

Ohsman wrote Markey's family a letter apologizing for killing their loved one, the charging document filed against him noted.

Steven Markey worked as an office assistant in Minneapolis.

Jerry Markey said his son grew up in Maple Grove with a brother and a sister, graduated from Osseo High School and then earned a political science degree from the University of Minnesota.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482