Man sentenced to 30 years in jail for 2019 West St. Paul homicide

An Oakdale man was sentenced Friday to more than 30 years in jail in connection to a 2019 homicide in West St. Paul.

The Dakota County Attorney’s Office said 23-year-old Nathan Wesley McDonald was sentenced to 367 months for the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Lawrence Terrance Renfro. He’d previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last month and a first-degree murder charge was dropped.

Man pleads guilty to murder in West St. Paul homicide

According to a criminal complaint, a friend of Renfro went to Renfro’s apartment on the morning of July 9, 2019, and found the door to the apartment locked. After he knocked and nobody answered, he walked to the bedroom window and found the screen damaged. After entering through the window, he found Renfro dead on a couch next to his 2-year-old child.

The complaint states the friend took the child and called police. In the apartment, five 9mm casings were found. An autopsy determined Renfro had been shot five times, including once in the head.

Man sentenced to over 25 years in jail after pleading guilty to 2019 murder of man in West St. Paul

Co-defendant Terrell Theo Payne was arrested on July 30, 2019, and told police he and McDonald had gone to Renfro’s apartment that morning and entered his apartment through the bedroom window. After Renfro woke up and told them to "get out of here," Payne said they shot Renfro multiple times.

Payne was sentenced to 25 years in jail earlier this month.