Witness to St. Paul murder: Suspect may have been looking for drugs when he shot man in his vehicle

Yahoo

29-01-2025

Robbery may have been the motive for a shooting in St. Paul last fall that killed a 42-year-old man, prosecutors alleged in newly filed murder charges.
Nicholas Sletten was found lying in a boulevard in the North End about 9:25 p.m. Oct. 14. He'd been shot in the back and died soon after at Regions Hospital.
A witness later told police he thought the suspects were trying to rob Sletten for marijuana or pills, but he didn't think Sletten had any with him the night he was shot, according to a criminal complaint.
Officers saw Sletten's Chevrolet Silverado stopped at Jackson Street and Wheelock Parkway, where he'd been located. All four doors of the vehicle were ajar. Surveillance video showed people running from the area at 9:26 p.m.
With location data from Sletten's phone, investigators found he'd been at the Speedway on Rice Street in Roseville — about two miles from the shooting — from 9:11 to 9:20 p.m., the complaint said.
Investigators identified two people who'd been with Sletten that night. One told police that Sletten drove him and four other people to the Speedway. Everyone went into the store except Sletten and a man identified as Kastedell L. Thomas Jr., 20, of St. Paul.
Thomas was sitting behind Sletten and wouldn't move for someone else to sit there. After they left the Speedway, Thomas and another man inside the Silverado pulled guns and tried to rob Sletten, the complaint said.
Thomas told Sletten not to move or reach for anything. He reached around the driver's seat, stuck an AK-47-style gun into Sletten's side and shot him, the complaint continued. Sletten was trying to get out of the vehicle when he was shot, one of the witnesses said.
The men from the vehicle ran to one of their homes, and Thomas and the other man with a gun cleaned the weapons with bleach.
Police arrested Thomas on Tuesday. The Ramsey County Attorney's Office charged him with two counts of second-degree murder — one intentional and one unintentional, while committing or attempting to commit robbery and/or assault.
Thomas has previous cases for third-degree assault and possession of a gun by a person under age 18, the complaint said.
Sletten's family wrote in his obituary that he 'senselessly lost his life.'
Known as Nick, he was born in Grand Forks, N.D., and raised across the river in East Grand Forks, Minn.
He 'was a rambunctious kid, the youngest of several brothers and sisters from a rather large family,' his family wrote. 'He was the sweetest guy, always willing to give you the shirt off his back, or maybe a Nike track suit. Nick will be sorely missed by those that knew him, which includes his brothers, sisters and so many other relatives, plus a few dogs.'
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