A 20-year-old Minneapolis man has been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of another young man on Oct. 14 outside a north Minneapolis church.

Jontrel Marquise Bolden was charged in the death of Elija Larkin, 19, as well as with being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.

Bolden had been arrested in Chicago earlier this month and returned to Minneapolis. He made his first court appearance Tuesday, and bail was set at $1 million. His next court date is Dec. 18.

According to the criminal complaint, Larkin got off a Metro Transit bus that evening near Emerson and 30th Avenues N., near New Bethel Baptist Church. About the same time, Bolden also got off a bus. The two saw each other and got into an argument that quickly turned physical.

Witnesses saw Bolden fire about a half-dozen gunshots at Larkin, a sighting confirmed by surveillance cameras, according to the complaint. Larkin made his way to the church and collapsed.

STAFF REPORT