A 43-year-old St. Cloud man is accused of killing a man and dumping his body near St. Cloud Regional Airport, according to a criminal complaint filed in Sherburne County District Court.
St. Cloud man charged with killing man, dumping body by airport
Suspect faces three felony counts in the death of Tyler Ecklund.
March 16, 2021 at 3:23PM
Ricco Dejon Tyson was charged with one felony count of second-degree murder, one felony count of first-degree manslaughter and one felony count of second-degree manslaughter. He made his first appearance in court Monday.
According to the complaint, the sheriff's office responded to a report of a dead body near 55th Avenue and 10th Street SE., just east of St. Cloud, on Nov. 14.
The body was later identified as 25-year-old Tyler Ecklund. A medical examiner listed the cause of death as a gunshot wound to the head and listed the manner of death as a homicide.
Investigators learned Ecklund sometimes stayed at a residence on the southeast side of St. Cloud; while executing a search warrant at the residence, officials found blood in a detached garage.
A woman at the residence said Ecklund had borrowed her 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe but she didn't know where it was. The vehicle was later found after Minneapolis police issued a parking citation for the vehicle near an address associated with Tyson.
Investigators reviewed surveillance video showing Tyson pawning a speaker box and leaving in the Tahoe. Officials obtained the box and found a bloodlike substance on the box.
Tyson was arrested Dec. 9 on a different matter in Wright County. He told investigators he struck Ecklund in the head with a handgun during an argument inside a vehicle near Munsinger Gardens in St. Cloud. He said as he struck him with his gun a third time, it fired.
Tyson told officials he dumped the body near a site where he had previously camped and threw the firearm into the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.
Tyson was previously convicted of third-degree and fifth-degree drug possession and check forgery.
On Monday, a judge set bail at $2 million without conditions and $1 million with several conditions, according to a Sherburne County news release.
Tyson's next court appearance is scheduled for April 12.
Jenny Berg • 612-673-7299
Twitter: @bergjenny
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