West St. Paul man sentenced to over 38 years for 2021 drive-thru murder

Krystal Frasier KSTP

Mugshot for Lionell Jacque Hicks Credit: Hennepin County Jail

A judge has sentenced a West St. Paul man to serve over 38 years(463 months) years behind bars for murdering a man in a Minneapolis White Castle drive-thru lane. He has credit for 609 days served.

Lionell Jacque Hicks, 32, entered a guilty plea last month to one count of second-degree murder in the death of Tu-Quan Lee Smith, Jr. during the overnight hours on Aug. 15, 2021. Smith was 29 years old at the time of his death. As part of the plea agreement, the state would allow a charge of a felon in possession of a firearm to be dismissed.

As previously reported by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, police were called to the area of West Lake Street and Blaisdell Avenue at 1:55 a.m. for multiple reports of a shooting. Their preliminary report said the occupants of two vehicles were shooting at one another.

An arrest warrant for Hicks, then 29, was issued for a charge of second-degree murder. That warrant was cleared in March of 2022.

The criminal complaint says police spoke with witnesses, who told them a white Hyundai tried to leave the drive-thru, and it was followed by a black Malibu that Smith was in. It goes on to say the people inside the Malibu and Hyundai were friends, and the Hyundai’s driver asked the person who was driving a red Jeep, identified as a woman, to back up so they could leave.

After the driver backed up, the complaint says the Hyundai’s driver asked her to back up a bit more, and eventually the Hyundai passed the Jeep. That’s when the victim and the rear, driver’s side passenger of the Jeep spoke to each other, and a passenger in the Jeep leaned out of the window and fired shots into the Malibu, hitting Smith, according to court documents.

The woman driving the Jeep then sped off.

The red Jeep was eventually found, towed and searched, where police found paperwork from the DOC for Hicks, who was out on parole.