3rd suspect charged with murder in 2021 shooting that killed 15-year-old in Fridley

A third person has been charged with murder in connection with a drug deal-turned-robbery last year in Fridley that resulted in a teen boy’s death.

Court records filed Monday in Anoka County show 19-year-old Izaiah Dreyshun Scott of Fridley faces one count of second-degree murder in the July 18 shooting of 15-year-old Anthony Joseph Rouse.

Two other suspects involved in the case have already been convicted and sentenced for their crimes.

Amos Menasa Cham, 20, of Spring Lake Park, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder and was sentenced in May to 15¾ years in prison.

Isaiah Harold-Stephaun Holmes, 18, of Fridley, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree assault and was sentenced in February to a total of 20 years in prison. Holmes was 17 at the time of the shooting, and prosecutors succeeded in having him tried as an adult.

A criminal complaint states that Scott had plotted with Holmes, Cham and an unnamed juvenile to rob someone seeking to buy marijuana from Cham.

Cham is seen on surveillance footage approaching a van with three occupants near 61st Avenue Northeast and Main Street in Fridley. The person who arranged to buy marijuana was in the driver’s seat, Rouse was in the back, and a third person was in the front passenger seat. After Cham walks up to the van, a silver car drives up in a nearby parking spot.

Soon after, the juvenile opened the sliding door on the passenger side of the van and started talking to the people inside. Holmes then showed up at the sliding door and said, “Run your s—,” which meant they were getting robbed, the complaint states. Holmes then produced a gun with a drum magazine.

When the driver of the van “slammed on the accelerator,” Holmes started shooting inside the vehicle. One of the witnesses inside the van recalled another male — who turned out to be Scott — in the backseat. The witnesses told police they forced Scott out and then drove Rouse to the hospital when they realized he was bleeding.

Rouse suffered gunshot wounds to the neck and upper shoulder and had lost a “massive” amount of blood, the complaint states. Despite blood transfusions and other medical treatment, he died two days later.

Scott told investigators he had brought the gun that night and handed it over to Holmes once they all met up, the complaint states. Following the shooting, Holmes handed the gun back to Scott, but it was missing the 50-round drum magazine. Scott said he then tossed the gun in a garbage container nearby.

Scott is already serving time at Minnesota Correctional Facility-St. Cloud for robbery and assault convictions in Ramsey County. No date has been set for his first court appearance in this murder case.