Teen to be tried as adult in fatal 2021 north Minneapolis gas station shooting

A teen will be tried as an adult in connection with a fatal shooting last May at a north Minneapolis gas station, court records show.

Albert Jerome Lucas, 18, is charged with one count of second-degree murder, court records show. He’s accused of shooting and killing 19-year-old George Zeon of Plymouth on May 6 at the Amstar gas station near Knox and Broadway avenues.

A criminal complaint states Zeon was pumping gas around 5:50 p.m. the evening of May 6 when a vehicle pulled up near him and two males stepped out and walked into the gas station. Surveillance footage shows the males leave the store, walk up to Zeon and begin arguing with him.

Zeon’s girlfriend is then seen walking toward the men confronting her boyfriend. One of the males pulls a gun from his waistband and points it at Zeon before putting it away. The other male, who police identified as Lucas, also pulled out a gun and fired it at Zeon, who then collapsed to the ground.

The girlfriend told police that after Zeon had been shot, the gunman continued to fire rounds at her, forcing her to duck for cover. The shooter and the other male got back into the car, which was driven by a woman, and left before police could arrive.

Zeon was rushed to North Memorial Health Hospital but died hours later. A Hennepin County Medical Examiner report states Zeon died of a gunshot wound to the head.

Police were able to track down the woman who drove the shooter to and from the gas station. She told police she had only met Lucas that day and that he had asked her to drop him off in St. Paul afterward.

The woman positively identified Lucas in a photo lineup, and police were able to match up his description using surveillance footage from an earlier incident in which Lucas was shot at a Minneapolis corner store, the complaint states.

Investigators eventually tracked Lucas to a Minnetonka apartment complex, and officers conducted a felony traffic stop on a vehicle he was riding in on June 1 and took him into custody.

Lucas was 17 at the time of the shooting and has since turned 18. Police say he was arrested last June and was booked into the Hennepin County Juvenile Detention Center.

He was taken into custody at the Hennepin County Adult Detention Center on Wednesday night and made his first court appearance Thursday afternoon. A judge has set his bail at $1 million.