Man charged in South St. Paul shooting that killed man, critically injured teen

A Maplewood man has been charged in connection to a shooting in South St. Paul Thursday that killed a man and left a teenager critically injured.

The Dakota County Attorney's Office said Friday that 19-year-old Marcelino Santiago Lopez is charged with one count of second-degree murder, one count of attempted second-degree murder and one count of first-degree assault.

South St. Paul Police said officers were called to the 1600 block of N. Concord Street at 1:39 p.m. on the report of a shooting. When they arrived, they found two people suffering from gunshot wounds; one had a wound to his head, the other suffering from a wound to his chest.

The man who died was identified as 20-year-old Brandon Jose Nieves, of South St. Paul. The other victim was a 16-year-old male who was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

Man killed, juvenile critically injured in South St. Paul shooting

Multiple witnesses told police they saw Lopez fire a shotgun at the victims before fleeing in a silver SUV.

A short time later, Lopez called police and turned himself in, a criminal complaint states. A shotgun was found with Lopez.

The complaint adds Lopez admitted to going to the location to fight Nieves because he was involved in a romantic relationship with Lopez's ex-girlfriend. The fight had been arranged on social media, and Lopez also admitted to threatening Nieves several times on social media. He also allegedly told police he used the shotgun because Nieves had arrived to the fight with multiple other people.

Lopez made his first court appearance Friday and his bail was set at $1.5 million without conditions or $1 million with conditions.

His next court appearance is set for April 24.