Man pleads guilty to murder in Alex Becker homicide

A 21-year-old pleaded guilty on Tuesday to second-degree murder in connection with the killing of Alex Becker in St. Paul on Dec. 27, 2022.

Arteze Kinerd was formally charged with the murder on Jan. 5, 2023.

As previously reported, surveillance from the shooting showed three men running down an alley that Becker had just gone into on the 500 block of Lawson Avenue West, and then gunshots being fired around 11:53 p.m. The suspects then left the scene in a stolen Toyota Camry, according to the criminal complaint.

The Camry was then found at Kinerd’s apartment.

Kinerd and two men were seen leaving the apartment building on the night of the murder wearing the same clothes as the suspects in surveillance video, court documents state.

Officers said they found Kinerd on Jan. 3 at a gas station. The complaint states that his “eyes grew big, and he ducked down in the store when he saw officers.” Police then recovered a handgun near where Kinerd had ducked down and placed him under arrest. Testing results from the gun matched the casings found near Becker’s body.

The Ramsey County Medical Examiner said Becker had been shot six times.

Another suspect in Becker’s death, Detwan Cortell Allen, was convicted of murder in December. His sentencing is scheduled for April 26.

A third defendant, Shaun Lamar Travis, was later acquitted of the murder.

Kinerd also pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a kidnapping charge stemming from an incident in which a man was robbed, held against his will and threatened at gunpoint.

Kinerd will be sentenced for both crimes on June 3.