Trial for woman charged in connection to fatal St. Paul shooting now scheduled to begin in March
Danell Christner Credit: Ramsey County Sheriff's Office
UPDATE 7/19 – Court records have updated to show a jury trial previously scheduled to begin Monday for a woman charged in connection to a fatal shooting last year in a downtown St. Paul hotel parking ramp has been pushed back.
According to online records, the trial for 38-year-old Danell Christner has been moved from July 18 to March 13.
An in-person hearing was held Monday for Christner, and a bail hearing was scheduled for the afternoon of Aug. 29.
Christner is charged with one count of second-degree unintentional murder in the death of 37-year-old Alexander Christoff.
An earlier version of this report can be found below.
INITIAL REPORT 7/18 – Court records show a jury trial is expected to begin Monday for a woman charged in connection to a fatal shooting last year in a downtown St. Paul hotel parking ramp.
Danell Christner, 38, is charged with one count of second-degree unintentional murder in the death of 37-year-old Alexander Christoff.
As previously reported by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, a criminal complaint states Christoff had hired a sex worker — later identified as Christner — on the evening of Aug. 28 while staying at the SpringHill Suites.
The complaint goes on to say cellphone records indicated that immediately after Christner left Christoff’s hotel room, she called Leneil Colbert Jr., saying Christoff had “a lot of money, a lot of drugs and a nice car,” and provided his room number.
Colbert and Christner called or texted one another at least nine times prior to the shooting, the complaint says.
Meanwhile, Tarrance Hardie, Anthony Pryor and Franklin Spriggs planned to rob Christoff, investigators determined. At about 12:40 a.m. on Aug. 29, they blocked Christoff’s car in, demanded he get out, and upon his refusal, Pryor fired three rounds, fatally wounding Christoff, a complaint states.
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Records show Christner was taken into custody in late November after a warrant was issued for her arrest.
Court records say Colbert currently has a jury trial scheduled to begin on Nov. 7 of this year, while Spriggs has an omnibus hearing scheduled for Jan. 10.
Hardie was sentenced last week to just over 14 years (171 months) in prison for one count of aiding and abetting second-degree unintentional murder. Meanwhile, Spriggs was sentenced in June of this year to more than 20 years (243 months) behind bars for aiding and abetting second-degree murder while committing a felony.