Sentence topping 10 years for teenager who fatally shot other teen in St. Paul

A teenager received a term Wednesday topping 10 years for fatally shooting another teen in a St. Paul alley.

J’Veon Jamauri Brown, 18, of St. Paul, was sentenced in Ramsey County District Court after pleading guilty to second-degree unintentional murder in connection with the shooting of Antwan C. Watson on Oct. 10, 2022, in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood.

Brown, who was 16 years old at the time of the killing, was prosecuted in adult court.

With credit for time in jail since his arrest, Brown is expected to serve roughly six years of his 10⅔-year term in prison and the balance on supervised release.

According to the charges:

Police found Watson with gunshot wounds to the chest at about 12:30 p.m. in an alley in the 1000 block of York Avenue E. St. Paul paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Two 911 callers had reported gunfire in the area at about noon, and one of them had seen Watson on the ground in the alley. People at the scene told police Brown was the shooter.

Video surveillance from St. Paul Johnson High School, where Brown was a student, appeared to show “him reenacting the shooting, holding both arms out in a shooting stance. ... The video also appears to show [Brown] mimicking chambering a round into a handgun after these acts.”

Later that night, a teenager who was possibly involved in the incident told police he was walking with his friends Watson and Brown and saw the shooting. He said the trio were in the alley “to find a car.” The teen did not know why Brown shot Watson. He said Brown later sent him a message over social media that read, “That’s what y’all get.”

Police seized a 9-millimeter handgun from Brown during his arrest, the same caliber as the shell casings and live ammunition found near Watson’s body.

After watching video that showed him running from the alley, Brown said Watson was shot by the third teenager who was with them. But he eventually admitted he shot Watson. Brown said he wasn’t really friends with the other two teens and had heard they were trying to rob him.