Gunman in fatal Minneapolis drive-by shooting sentenced to life in prison

A man who was convicted of first-degree murder for a drive-by shooting that killed a 34-year-old woman last summer will now serve a life sentence.

Tremaine Bucholz, 27, was sentenced on Monday to life in prison with the possibility for parole after 30 years for the death of Stevi Palacio. A jury found Bucholz guilty of first- and second-degree murder earlier this month.

As previously reported, the night of Aug. 9, 2023, Palacio was found lying face-down in the street near the intersection of Thomas and Oak Park avenues with a gunshot wound to her back. She was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Doorbell camera footage showed a van creep up next to her before shots were fired from the passenger window. The gunman, identified as Bucholz, fired one shot followed by a volley of seven more as Palacio ran away.

Police investigators tracked the van to Bucholz’s apartment complex on the 2200 block of Golden Valley Road. Bucholz admitted to knowing the driver of the van and the woman who was shot.

“Stevi should still be with her family,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement. “The verdict and time Mr. Bucholz will spend in prison won’t replace their loss, but he will be held accountable and no one else will be harmed.”