Teen arrested in fatal shooting of 12-year-old boy in St. Paul

A 12-year-old boy was fatally shot early Saturday in St. Paul's North End, and a 14-year-old male was arrested pending charges of manslaughter, police said.

Just before 5 a.m., police were called to the 200 block of Stinson Street W. on a report that a juvenile male had been shot. When they arrived, they found a 12-year-old suffering from an apparent gunshot wound.

The boy, identified by his mother as Markee Jones, was brought to Regions Hospital, where he died.

Late Saturday afternoon, St. Paul police spokeswoman Molly McMillen said a 14-year-old was being held at the Ramsey County Juvenile Detention Center in connection with Jones' death.

"We still don't know the how or what that led up to this," she said.

Relatives of Jones said the shooting was accidental. "It was an accident, we just don't know how it happened," said Chyarm Hill, a niece of Denisha Hill, the boy's mother.

Denisha Hill said her son, his brother and a cousin were staying overnight at her mother's house. "My mom always has her grandkids over," she said, as relatives gathered in the alley behind the home.

Hill, who lives in Inver Grove Heights, said her mother was away at a religious retreat in Rochester on Saturday. She said an uncle was staying at the house, and that he was asleep when the shooting occurred.

Hill described her son as "smart and always smiling. He was a happy, basketball playing kid who loved to be outside with his friends. He was a real boys' boy."

St. Paul police said in a news release that this is the 22nd homicide this year in St. Paul.

Police said they were interviewing possible witnesses Saturday and expect to release more details on the shooting Sunday.