On the evening of June 19, 2023, 24-year-old Anthony R. Rojas was found inside his North St. Paul apartment with a fatal gunshot wound to the head. Police responded around 6 p.m. to a disturbance involving a weapon at an apartment on the 2100 block of McKnight Road North; the Ramsey County Medical Examiner later ruled the death a homicide.

Investigators found two open, empty gun safes, a 3D printer, a money counter, boxes of ammunition and rifle magazines. About 12 hours earlier Rojas had posted a photo showing thousands of dollars in cash that investigators did not find at the scene. Witnesses heard an argument before the gunshot and saw several people, including Rojas’s 19-year-old girlfriend La Vida Rose Martinez, leaving with large bags. Ten minutes later a 911 call led police to two dropped bags containing 15 Glock 9mm handguns, an AR-style pistol, and magazines; one firearm had what appeared to be blood on the grip.

Six people were arrested in connection with the case: Martinez, 19-year-old Steven Lawrence Terry and 19-year-old Octavion Rayshawn Jones were charged with second-degree murder; Kimberly Nicole Terry, 36, was charged with possession of a firearm without a serial number; two male juveniles, 16 and 17, were also arrested. A confidential informant told police the group intended to rob Rojas and the confrontation escalated to a fatal shooting.