Teen now facing adult charges in South St. Paul homicide
Casimir Anthony Semlak (Dakota County Jail)
A teenager who was previously charged as a juvenile in connection to a fatal shooting in South St. Paul last spring has now been charged as an adult.
The Dakota County Attorney’s Office said Thursday that 18-year-old Casimir Anthony Semlak was certified as an adult and is now charged with three counts of second-degree murder for the shooting that killed 17-year-old Anthony John Skelley. Semlak was only 17 years old when the fatal shooting occurred.
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South St. Paul police responded to the 1900 block of Conver Avenue at around 10:42 p.m. on May 8, 2022, and found Skelley lying in the roadway, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. He died at the scene.
Investigators learned that Skelley and Semlak had been texting about a marijuana sale a short time before the shooting, court documents state.
When officers arrested Semlak, they say he had a 9 mm handgun that was loaded with the same brand of shell casing found at the scene of the shooting, a criminal complaint adds.
Semlak made his first court appearance on the adult charges Thursday and had his bail set at $1 million or $750,000 with conditions. His next hearing is scheduled for Jan. 26.
A second-degree murder conviction carries up 40 years in jail.