19-year-old indicted in April shooting of South St. Paul man

A 19-year-old Inver Grove Heights man has been indicted by a Dakota County grand jury in connection to the fatal shooting of a South St. Paul man earlier this year.

According to the Dakota County Attorney’s Office, Marcelino Santiago Lopez was indicted on charges of first-degree murder and second-degree murder, plus first-degree attempted murder, second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault, in connection to the death of Brandon Jose Nieves on April 2.

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

South St. Paul Police said officers were called to the 1600 block of North 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 the 20-year-old Nieves. The other victim was a 16-year-old male who was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

Multiple witnesses told police they saw Lopez fire a shotgun at the victims before fleeing in a silver SUV. Lopez called police and turned himself in a short time later, a criminal complaint states. Lopez also allegedly admitted to going to the location to fight Nieves because Nieves 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 remains in Dakota County Jail, and his bail has been set at $1.5 million without conditions or $1 million with conditions.

His first appearance is set for next week.