A 15-year-old boy who authorities say was one of two gunmen in this summer's slaying of 5-year-old Nizzel George will be tried as an adult, the Hennepin County attorney's office announced Thursday.
Julian Kijuan Lamar Anderson, of Minneapolis, was indicted Aug. 9 on four counts of murder but because he was younger than 16, the indictment was sealed. He was certified Wednesday to stand trial as an adult.
Investigators said the shooting June 26 was tied to a months-long dispute between two North Side gangs: the Skitz Squad and the Y.N.T. The events that led to Nizzel's death began June 25, when Anderson, who until now had been referred to in court papers by his street name, "Funny Mo," overheard two other teenagers at a North Side gas station say he was "from the other side," according to police. Anderson pointed a gun at them, police said.
That night, someone shot several .40-caliber rounds into a house on Camden Avenue N. known as a Skitz Squad hangout. Hours later, on the morning of June 26, Anderson and Stephon Shannon, 17, allegedly stood on the street and fired shots into Nizzel's house at 4515 Bryant Av. N., where one Y.N.T. member and a Y.N.T. associate were staying, police said.
Nizzel was asleep on his grandmother's couch when he was hit. No one else was injured. Shannon was indicted Aug. 9 on four counts of murder.
MATT MCKINNEY
