2 Fridley men charged in fatal shooting of 17-year-old

A 24-year-old Fridley man has been charged with fatally shooting a 17-year-old last week, then dumping the gun with his cousin.

Travon Shug Wallace was charged Tuesday in Anoka County District Court with second-degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm. His cousin, Tamarr Brayon Long, 20, was charged as a felony accomplice.

Both men remain in custody at the Anoka County jail.

According to the criminal complaint:

Officers responded to a reported shooting on the 6100 block of 5th Street NE. in Fridley just before 5:45 p.m. on Jan. 10. A frantic 911 caller said that a man bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds knocked on his door seeking medical assistance.

The north Minneapolis teen, later identified as Keimonte White, was taken to HCMC, where he died. During an autopsy, three bullets were pulled from his body. Medical examiners said he was shot at least once in the chest, which had made direct contact with the firearm's muzzle.

Two of White's friends told police he'd been instructed to provide a lift to an unknown man for a fee. When the three friends pulled up in a minivan, a man wearing a fluffy, black winter coat and a fur-lined hood hopped in the back.

Three separate witnesses later described seeing a man fitting that description running in the area.

Across the street from the shooting, Long and his girlfriend sat parked in a sedan. Following the shots, she reported that a man in a fur-lined poofy coat walked into the back door of a nearby residence. Long then left the car and met the man inside, before returning to the vehicle with a pistol. He told her to drive away, just as an injured man came stumbling outside.

Later that evening, Long bragged about the shooting — even holding up the murder weapon, authorities said. He told a witness that his "cousin" had pulled the trigger in Fridley, then handed him the gun before leaving the scene, according to the criminal complaint.

Police have not yet located the firearm.

Investigators learned that Wallace lives in the Fridley residence with his godmother.

Liz Sawyer • 612-673-4648