Alex Becker murder: St. Paul man sentenced to over 30 years
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - One of the three men accused of killing a St. Paul man in an alley outside his mother's house in 2022, will spend decades behind bars.
A Ramsey County jury found 20-year-old Detwan Allen guilty in December 2023 of aiding and abetting second-degree murder with intent and acquitted him on a felony second-degree murder charge. Judge Paul Yang sentenced him on Friday to 367 months (30.5 years) with credit for 444 days served.
"From the outside, it looked like a robbery, but when you really look closer at the evidence, it’s like you guys are hunting. You chase down your prey, you surround him, and you shot the prey as your target practice," said Judge Yang during sentencing.
Authorities have alleged three men attempted to rob and then killed 22-year-old Alex Becker in a dark alley behind his family’s home on Dec. 27, 2022, just steps from his mother’s door. She heard the gunfire that killed her son and saw two suspects running from the scene.
Prosecutors initially charged Allen, Shaun Travis, and Arteze Kinerd with Becker’s murder, arguing all three men were in the alley, working in concert when Becker was killed. But the first trial for Travis ended in an acquittal when District Court Judge JaPaul Harris found him not guilty following a bench trial that he presided over.
Kinerd pleaded guilty earlier this year to aiding and abetting second-degree murder. Allen’s defense attorneys have since filed for a new trial, citing in part that Kinerd’s testimony claimed Allen was not directly involved in the death, and that evidence was not available during trial.
Kinerd’s sentencing is scheduled for June.
