Grand jury upgrades charges in slaying of Roosevelt student

Updated: November 21, 2008 - 8:39 PM

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Murder charges have been upgraded against a 25-year-old suspected gang member in the fatal shooting of a teenager playing football behind his Minneapolis home in October.

A grand jury indicted Edgar Rene Barrientos-Quintana of Richfield this week on two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree murder committed for the benefit of a gang, two counts of first-degree attempted murder and two counts of first-degree attempted murder committed for the benefit of a gang. He is accused of killing 18-year-old Jesse Leon Omar Mickelson, a student at Roosevelt High School.

According to the criminal complaint, Mickelson was playing football in an alley with his relatives during a birthday party on Oct. 11. A car came down the alley and stopped before the passenger-side window was lowered. Six shots were fired from a handgun that was stuck out the window, and the car sped away.

Witnesses identified Barrientos-Quintana by name and by a nickname. Police recognized him as a Surenos gang member.

A motive has not been identified for the shooting, but Mickelson's relatives speculated the shots were aimed at people living in a nearby house.

LORA PABST