Suspect charged in murder on St. Paul's West Side

A suspect in last month's shooting death of 23-year-old David Lashawn Isaac on St. Paul's West Side has been arrested and charged.

Justice Glaspie, 20, was charged with second-degree murder Friday by the Ramsey County Attorney's Office, a day after his arrest in West St. Paul.

Isaac, whose funeral was earlier this week, was found shot to death behind a home on St. Paul's West Side on Oct. 23. It was the 29th homicide in St. Paul this year, according to a Star Tribune database. That compares with 31 by that time last year.

According to charging documents:

Investigators reviewed Isaac's posts to Snapchat and confirmed that he was on the West Side of St. Paul the evening of his death to film a video. Glaspie was identified as one of the men in the video, and later surveillance footage captured the two walking with a group through a parking lot. The group started to play fight with each other. Isaac and Glaspie got up after their scuffle brought them to the ground, and Glaspie was seen walking away with a limp. Still, authorities who reviewed the video said, "There appeared to be no lingering resentment or hard feelings."

The last footage of Isaac cuts away after Glaspie jumps at his back and spins him around at 10:16 p.m. in the same parking lot where his body was found. Three members of the group were filmed getting into a vehicle on Concord Street minutes later.

Police interviewed a member from that group, who said he didn't know of any fights or issues between the others. When asked what happened, he paused and needed time to compose himself.

When Glaspie was interviewed, he denied being at the scene of the shooting and said he didn't know Isaac. That alibi changed when investigators showed video footage of Glaspie holding what appeared to be a gun.

Glaspie then said that he did it, documents state, claiming that Isaac tried to rob him at gunpoint two months ago.

After the play fight, Glaspie said he grabbed Isaac by the shoulder and spun him around with a gun in hand, according to charges. He planned to rob him, but he said Isaac tried to grab the weapon.

Jennifer Rainer, Isaac's aunt, described her nephew as an exquisite person who would smile through his own pain in order to help others around him. Memories of a young Isaac playing the video game Guitar Hero with his grandmother or bringing in worms from outside helped Rainer laugh amid tears.

"You're OK when your loved ones have gotten old and you understand and you know that eventually one day you're going to have to say goodbye," said Rainer, who noted her nephew was more like a son to her. "This one we don't understand."