A 20-year-old man has narrowly avoided prison time for his involvement in a lethal shooting incident in North St. Paul by taking a plea deal last month. Steven Lawrence Terry, implicated in the June 2023 death of Anthony Rojas, was initially charged with second-degree murder. Still, the charge has been resigned to history, according to court documents.
Under the deal, Terry pleaded guilty to possession of a “ghost gun,” a firearm without a serial number, which he was caught with during a post-shooting investigation. His plea allowed him to evade a potential jury trial set to begin on Jan. 31, 2024, and instead receive a sentence of three years on probation and to pay a fine in the modest sum of $340, as reported by KSTP. The 78 days Terry spent in jail were deemed to fully serve his time behind bars.
The CBS Minnesota report reveals that Terry was among several individuals who reportedly fled from an apartment on McKnight Road after the shooting that killed Rojas, age 24. The crime scene was littered with the telltale signs of illicit gun manufacture, including a 3D printer and ammunition, indicating that Rojas might have been producing the untraceable weapons himself.
Surveillance activity later led authorities to detain Terry and his mother, Kimberly Terry, after they were eyed entering an Uber vehicle. Between them, police discovered a phantom handgun with no serial number, matching the type left at the Rojas murder scene. Kimberly Terry has claimed the gun as hers and will face her judgment in a February trial, according to KSTP.
Furthermore, the police investigation linked the move to rob Rojas of both guns and money—a photo posted by Rojas earlier on the day of his death displayed a large sum of money—which was not found post-mortem. Another suspect in the case, 19-year-old Octavion Rayshawn Jones, remains entangled with the justice system, with his next review hearing scheduled for March, as CBS Minnesota reports. Meanwhile, a third individual involved saw their charges dismissed, the prosecutors unable to firmly grasp the necessary evidence for conviction.
