Teen charged in fatal stabbing of St. Paul 19-year-old

Yahoo

07-05-2025

After police arrested a 14-year-old in a fatal St. Paul stabbing last month, a 17-year-old now is also accused, according to court documents filed this week.
Jay'Mier K. Givens, 19, of St. Paul, was killed in the Dayton's Bluff neighborhood in March. An autopsy found he'd been stabbed 22 times, with most of the wounds to his back and one to his neck.
Officers responded about 11:30 p.m. March 31 to Sixth Street near Birmingham Street. Givens was found collapsed near an address he wasn't connected with, police have said.
Investigators talked with Givens' family and they said he came home about 9 p.m. on March 31, and left later in the evening 'to smoke' with friends who were said to be 'Jeremy' and another teen, according to a juvenile petition filed Monday against the 17-year-old.
Police were also told the two teens stayed at a residence a few blocks from where Givens was found. They identified Jeremy Joe Davila and a 14-year-old as residents of the address.
The Ramsey County Attorney's Office charged Davila with aiding and abetting intentional second-degree murder, not premediated. Davila turned 17 on March 31, the day of the homicide.
Teen says they texted victim to meet
Givens' cellphone showed he received a call at 10:04 p.m. on March 31. There were also multiple text messages between 10:07 and 10:34 p.m., during which someone from the number said they had a stolen Kia vehicle and wanted Givens to come 'smoke n chill.'
After police arrested the 14-year-old for a second time, he said they'd texted Givens and 'fabricated the story about the stolen Kia … because they knew it would interest' Givens. He stated, 'that was a coverup' and 'there was no car.'
The mother of Davila, who was also the foster mother of the 14-year-old, told police she hadn't seen either teen since April 1, the day that Davila told the family they needed to leave 'because it was not safe' and saying something about retaliation, according to the petition.
Investigators interviewed the 14-year-old's girlfriend, who first said she only 'knew of' Givens. She later told police that Givens threatened over Snapchat to kill her 1½-year-old son, according to the petition.
The 14-year-old told police that on March 31 — when he, Davila and Givens had met up and were smoking marijuana — he asked Givens 'why he said that stuff' about his girlfriend's son, who he regarded as his 'stepson.'
He said Givens pulled a knife on him. Davila, who the 14-year-old said always carried a knife, pulled a knife 'and stepped in to protect' him, the petition said of the teen's account.
The 14-year-old said Davila stabbed Givens, which caused Givens to drop his knife, the petition continued. He said he took Givens' knife and also stabbed Givens.
Knives, clothing found in basement rafters
Police located surveillance footage in a large perimeter around the crime scene. Three people were seen walking in the area starting at 10:51 p.m. on March 31. At 11:08 p.m., surveillance footage showed three people coming from a wooded area west of Harding High School and crossing over Sixth Street to the area where Givens was later found unresponsive. At 11:10 p.m., surveillance video showed two people running from the area.
On April 8, police carried out a search warrant at the address linked to Davila and the 14-year-old on Margaret Street between Hazelwood and Germain streets. They found two knives hidden in basement rafters. The knives have been submitted to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for forensic analysis.
Police located two sets of clothing hidden in the rafters, and they matched the clothing that the two people were seen wearing in surveillance footage.
Police arrested the 14-year-old at his school on April 8. He said he and Davila met Givens between their homes on March 31, but had gone their separate ways.
The 14-year-old was released without charges on April 11, before he was arrested again last Thursday.
On April 30, Davila's mother turned him over to law enforcement on a previously issued 'probable cause pick-up and hold.' She said she hadn't seen or heard from her son between April 1 and April 29.
14-year-old's journal described murder, officials say
Davila told police various accounts of what happened on March 31 and none initially involved Givens. He later said he and the 14-year-old met with Givens that night; he said he didn't remember how he got home. He also said he didn't know anything about the knives that were found in the rafters.
When police went to arrest the 14-year-old last Thursday at his temporary foster home, his foster parents said he'd 'grown anxious in recent days' and they provided him with a notebook so he could write his thoughts. Police obtained a search warrant and found the notebook.
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The petition said there were 'multiple pages of writing describing the circumstances' of Givens' murder, including the words, 'Why you aint fight for yo life when I poke u wit dis knife.'
When investigators were talking to the 14-year-old, he asked to call his biological mother. Police called her on speakerphone. She asked her son about the passages in the notebook and he said, 'I wrote what I think happened' and told investigators that it 'wasn't supposed to play out like that,' according to the petition.
Davila remains in custody and the county attorney's office is seeking to have his case moved to adult court. His attorney did not immediately return a message seeking comment Wednesday.
A Ramsey County Attorney's Office spokesman said he couldn't provide information about the 14-year-old due to Minnesota data privacy laws.