Young woman found dead inside Richfield apartment rejected suspect's romantic advances, charges say
Prosecutors on Monday charged a 27-year-old man in the murder of a young woman found dead inside her Richfield, Minnesota, apartment last month.
The man from Shakopee, Minnesota, is facing one count of second-degree intentional murder, according to a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County.
The charges come after Richfield police were asked to conduct a welfare check at an apartment building on the 7700 block of Penn Avenue South on June 17. There, they found 22-year-old Kayli Arseth had been shot and killed. Officers noted signs of struggle.
The criminal complaint says Arseth had worked until 4:26 p.m. on June 16 before traveling a couple of miles home. She had plans for a friend to pick her up from her apartment around 5 p.m., but the friend could not get a response from Arseth despite multiple texts and knocking on the door. The friend left after about half an hour and notified Arseth's dad of what happened.
Charges say investigators learned that Arseth had recently met a man online, identified as the defendant, and that they had been spending time together, but the relationship was not considered sexual or romantic.
However, investigators say a review of messages shows that in the days leading up to Arseth's death, the suspect was asking for a romantic relationship, to which Arseth told him she was only interested in friendship.
On June 16, Arseth repeatedly told the suspect she was not ready for a relationship, charging documents show. The defendant asked if they could discuss the topic later and told her to have fun with her friends. Charges say phone records show the suspect was at Arseth's apartment building less than an hour after their conversation began and that he was there when he sent his last message to her.
The defendant left Arseth's apartment around 4:49 p.m., according to location analysis. Thirty minutes later, his phone pinged in west Bloomington and stayed there for several minutes. There, officers located two bags containing discarded items, including 16 rounds of 9mm ammunition, charges allege.
When authorities arrived to execute a search warrant at his residence on Thursday, the suspect took off in his car, but officers boxed him in a short distance away and took him into custody. He did not ask why he was arrested and told officers to "hurry it up," according to the criminal complaint.
During the search, investigators reportedly recovered a Glock 9mm firearm, a red dot sight adapter plate and a "Tactical Media Acquisition Kit" containing camera accessories, hard drives and flash drives, according to the complaint.
Charges say after the suspect was arrested and advised of his Miranda rights, he told investigators he wasn't going to answer any questions but if they kept talking, maybe "something will slip."
During a search of his body, the defendant had several scratches on his chest and puncture wounds to his forearm, according to charges.
His bail was set at $2.5 million.
A GoFundMe for Arseth's family has raised more than $40,000 since it was created on June 24.
If you or someone you know needs help, you can contact the at 1-800-799-SAFE or at 1-866-223-1111.
