Man charged with firing AR-15 on New Year's Day, injuring 11-year-old girl

A Fridley man suspected of drunkenly firing an AR-15 rifle in celebration minutes into the New Year, wounding an 11-year-old girl on Minneapolis' North Side, has been charged with two felony firearms violations.

James William Turner Jr., 44, was charged Thursday in Hennepin County District Court with illegal firearm possession and reckless discharge of a firearm in connection with the shooting of La'neria Wilson.

A series of pops roused La'neria from her bed just after midnight Monday. When she approached the window to look for fireworks, she was struck by gunfire just below the right eye. Surgeons successfully removed the bullet fragment from her face on Wednesday, two days before her 12th birthday.

In a news conference, Minneapolis Chief Brian O'Hara accused Turner — a convicted felon barred from carrying a firearm — of "absolutely reckless celebratory behavior."

Turner remains jailed in lieu of $150,000 bail.

Officers responded to the 2300 block of Bryant Avenue N. around 12:10 a.m. Monday, where they found La'neria stable and responsive. She was rushed to HCMC and later discharged ahead of surgery.

Investigators quickly pinpointed the origin of the shooting to across the street from her home. Neighbors provided surveillance footage and Snapchat videos of a man, later identified as Turner, outside La'neria's house. That evidence led to his swift arrest.

"This is an example of what can happen when community and police officers collaborate and work together to bring justice," O'Hara said Wednesday.

One video showed Turner walk from his girlfriend's vehicle to the south sidewalk and fire numerous rounds from a rifle into the ground, according to the criminal complaint. He then stopped and appeared to struggle with the weapon. Additional videos showed him bent over grappling with the rifle and firing multiple rounds "at a shallow angle," charges say.

He eventually returned to the car.

A recording of another Snapchat video, obtained by the Star Tribune, showed Turner taking swigs from a tequila bottle while rattling off a string of profanities. At one point, the camera panned to the inside of a vehicle, where a rifle rested on the driver's seat.

Under questioning from police, Turner initially denied firing a gun that night. When faced with video evidence, he admitted to shooting into the ground, charges say.

Turner has a lengthy criminal history, which includes convictions for domestic assault by strangulation in Ramsey County. That 2019 case barred him from keeping firearms or ammunition. He served 12 days in jail for the attack on his then-girlfriend before being placed on probation — but was released from supervision early in 2022 due to the pandemic.

Later that year, he was convicted of second-degree assault in Anoka County for attacking a man who reportedly had "a forced sexual encounter" with his girlfriend's daughter. He was jailed for 170 days and placed on supervised probation afterwards, but violated that probation with Monday's early-morning shooting.