St. Paul man pleads guilty in connection with 2022 murder
Mugshot for Jose Antonio Martinez-Gonzalez Credit: Hennepin County Jail
A 23-year-old man from St. Paul entered a guilty plea on Tuesday to one count of second-degree murder for shooting and killing a man in 2022. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 40 years.
Jose Antonio Martinez-Gonzalez was initially charged on Dec. 7 with one count of second-degree murder and one count of possession of a firearm for a shooting that took place in July, according to court records.
The plea agreement states that Martinez-Gonzalez would be charged with second-degree murder in exchange for dismissal of the firearm charge and 306 months of prison.
RELATED: Man charged with murder in July shooting near Cedar Field Park
Court documents state that Minneapolis police were out on patrol early on the morning of July 10 when they heard gunshots near Cedar Field Park at around 1:45 a.m. Officers responded to the area and found 22-year-old Ivan James Redday unresponsive with apparent gunshot wounds. Redday was taken to a hospital but died a short time later.
According to a criminal complaint, surveillance video showed Redday and two other people walking in the area. As they walked, they passed a group of three males who were headed in the opposite direction.
One of the men in that group, later identified as Martinez-Gonzalez, then walked back around the corner of a walkway after passing the group Redday was in and opened fire at Redday, the complaint states.
Officers at the scene found 11 discharged cartridge casings nearby and also found bullet damage to vehicles that were parked in the area, documents state. They later identified Martinez-Gonzalez as the shooter based on different surveillance videos from the night before that showed him wearing the same clothes and also better showed his face and tattoos, which matched photos police had from prior incidents.
He was arrested on Dec. 2, 2022, by Eden Prairie police, who responded to a domestic disturbance call.
Martinez-Gonzalez has two prior offenses that prohibit him from using a gun: a first-degree aggravated robbery conviction in 2017 and a first-degree aggravated robbery conviction in 2019.