Man, 25, pleads guilty to role in 2024 fatal shooting on St. Paul's Raspberry Island
A Maplewood man on Tuesday pleaded guilty to his role in a fatal shooting on St. Paul's Raspberry Island last year.
Romello Markell Ifonlaja-Randle, 25, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and possession of a firearm as a felon.
Ifonlaja-Randle in February withdrew a guilty plea from a previous plea deal due to a miscommunication over possible sentencing.
His sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 5.
The shooting occurred on the night of Aug. 14, 2024. Court documents say 20-year-old Marcus Anthony Baker Jr. had been inside a vehicle with friends when they were approached by another group who wanted them to stop playing music by a local rap artist associated with gangs on the city's east side.
Baker refused, and Ifonlaja-Randle — who is allegedly associated with west side gangs — slapped him and then shot him, according to the criminal complaint.
Ifonlaja-Randle and his group fled the island, leaving behind two bottles of tequila in a Target bottle carrier, the complaint states.
Investigators used surveillance camera footage and the bottles to make a connection to Ifonlaja-Randle's friend, who had purchased the liquor. Surveillance footage from the West St. Paul Target showed Ifonlaja-Randle and his friend making the purchase hours before the shooting.
Charges say two days after the shooting, police found the gun believed to have been used in the deadly shooting. DNA on the gun's muzzle was a positive match for Ifonlaja-Randle.
A witness who was in the vehicle with Baker when he was shot identified Ifonlaja-Randle as the shooter.
Ifonlaja-Randle has previously been convicted of two first-degree aggravated robberies and a fourth-degree assault.
