Superior rocked by robbery that turned into fatal shooting

The bullet penetrated Garth Velin's chest as he tried to grab the robber's gun and it went off.

By the time the struggle was over, 20-year-old Velin was dying on the floor of his home in Superior, Wis., and the accused killer, 17-year-old Chance Andrews, was racing from the scene with four young accomplices. They had allegedly come to steal some cash because they had heard Velin dealt marijuana. Andrews was arrested this week for felony murder and the four people who helped him also face serious charges, following an incident surprising for its brutality in a small port town that sees an average of one murder a year.

"It isn't like the gang drug activity that we sometimes see with heroin and methamphetamine," said Deputy Chief Nicholas Alexander. "You usually don't see this type of violence associated with marijuana related crimes."

A criminal complaint filed Thursday in Douglas County Court alleged the following:

Andrews had his old girlfriend, Teah Phillips, 17, drive him and some friends from Duluth to Superior and park behind a Subway store. He told her they were "going to get some money," and directed Phillips to knock on Velin's door to see if he was home.

When Velin answered, she pretended she was looking for a lost dog, and went back to tell the men waiting in the car that Velin was home.

Andrews, Dallas Robinson and Kyham Dunn then walked up to the house, as Phillips and Kane Robinson waited. After the gun went off, Velin's girlfriend, who was upstairs, heard him wailing and found him with a bullet hole in his chest.

"It went bad," they said.

"Why did you shoot him? You did not have to shoot him," Robinson allegedly yelled at Andrews.

"What happens doesn't leave this car," Andrews said as Phillips drove the four men back to Duluth. He said he'd kill them if they said anything.

Several hours later, Andrews and two others drove to a friend's house in Duluth to ask if they could hide the car, but the friend refused.

Word of their involvement leaked out on social media, with commenters on Facebook linking Phillips and Andrews to Velin's death. As other tips came in, Phillips first went to a police officer at Superior High School and then to the police department, eventually breaking down in tears as she recalled what happened.

"Even when you're young … poor decisions can have terrible consequences, and can happen, and just because you're young doesn't mean you're not going to be held accountable for it," said Alexander.