18-year-old to spend nearly 16 years in prison for St. Paul shooting that killed teen

An 18-year-old convicted of second-degree murder has been sentenced to spend years in prison.

Maurice Antonio Gaynor Jr., who was certified in March to stand trial as an adult when he was 17, was sentenced on Friday to spend 191 months (nearly 16 years) in the St. Cloud prison. In addition, he was ordered to pay more than $12,000 in restitution. He was allowed 21 days of credit for time served.

During Gaynor’s sentencing, one count of first-degree aggravated robbery was dismissed.

Gaynor was charged in connection to a shooting on Feb. 10 in St. Paul. 16-year-old Kalven Sin Suy died a week after the shooting in the city’s North End neighborhood.

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According to court documents, Sin Suy’s girlfriend told officers that they were at her home when Sin Suy asked her to drive him to the intersection of Western Avenue North and Burgess Street. After she dropped him off, she got a call from Sin Suy saying, “Come get me, he shot me!”

A few days later, Sin Suy’s girlfriend told officers that the suspect “50” and Sin Suy had been in a juvenile detention center together.

When asked why Sin Suy and “50” had met so late, his girlfriend told police that he sometimes sold marijuana, court documents state. She said that Sin Suy had brought a bag to the meeting and didn’t have it when she found him after he had been shot.

Police got a search warrant for Sin Suy’s phone and found calls to a contact, “50.” There were also texts to set up the meeting.

Authorities later identified the phone number as being registered to Gaynor’s father. Gaynor and Sin Suy had been texting about the sale of a gun and narcotics, according to court documents.

Gaynor’s phone data also showed that he was in the area of the 800 block of Western Avenue North around the time of the shooting.

Gaynor was arrested during the execution of a search warrant on Feb. 16. Court documents state that officers found his cell phone, 38 counterfeit $100 bills, rounds of .22-caliber ammunition and a ghost gun.

During a second search warrant execution at a different home, officers found Gaynor’s school ID, a .22-caliber 715p firearm, a .22-caliber spent casing and a loaded .22-caliber magazine. Court officials said the firearm had been tampered with to remove the serial number.