Man sentenced to 17 years in prison for fatal 2022 drive-by shooting in South St. Paul

A man charged with killing a teenager in 2022 in a drive-by shooting has been sentenced to over a decade in prison.

According to Dakota County Court, 20-year-old Casimir Anthony Semlak was sentenced to 204 months(17 years) in prison after being convicted with second-degree murder in a drive-by shooting.

During his sentencing, Semlak had two other charges, second-degree murder with intent and second-degree murder without intent, dismissed. He will get credit for 982 days served, reducing his sentence by about two and a half years.

Semlak was charged in 2022, when he was only 17 years old in the death of another 17-year-old, Anthony Skelley.

Skelly was found shot on May 9, 2022, when officers were called to the 1900 block of Conver Avenue at about 10:42 p.m. on a report of shots being fired in the area.

Skelly later died from his injuries. Authorities later discovered text messages between Skelly and Semlak for a marijuana sale.

When officers arrested Semlak, he had a Springfield 9 mm Hellcat handgun in his possession, which had bullets that were the same brand as the shell casings found at the scene.