Six bullets, one corpse: West St. Paul shooter sentenced to life

Ronald R. Hill will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing Jeffrey L. Logan, who bled to death from gunshot wounds on a cold January night in an alley outside the Attucks-Brooks American Legion hall in St. Paul.

Hill, 21, of West St. Paul, was found guilty Thursday in Ramsey County District Court of two counts of first-degree murder and two of second-degree murder. He also was found guilty of first-degree aggravated robbery of Earl Bronaugh, Logan's cousin, who was standing beside Logan when Hill approached them in the Legion parking lot and demanded their wallets at 1 a.m. Jan. 31.

Prosecutor Elizabeth Lamin read four victim-impact statements from Logan's family before District Judge Teresa Warner handed down Hill's sentence: life in prison without the possibility of parole.

From Bronaugh: "Jeff was a friend to everyone he got to know. He made the depressed person smile. ... His cheek-to-cheek smile will be sorely missed but it will be remembered in our lives forever. ..."

From Logan's only sister, Charlnitta Logan-Moody: "There isn't a day that goes by that I don't cry for my brother."

From his stepfather, Roosevelt Ratcliff: "We could sit and talk like he was my own son. ... If I wanted to have something done, all I had to do was call Jeffrey. I miss that."

And from his mother, Clara Logan-Ratcliff: "My son was always there when I needed him. ... He was my special child. My mind and heart will always carry memories of Jeffrey and I will miss hearing him say, 'I love you, Mom.'"

Logan, 44, was shot six times: twice in the back side, in the palm of his hand, in his genitals, in his knee and in his upper leg. He died before paramedics could get him to the hospital.

The jury heard forensic scientists testify that the casings found near Logan's body came from a Beretta 9mm semiautomatic and that Hill's DNA was found on the grip of that handgun.

And finally, the jury heard Hill testify that he shot Logan in self-defense. Hill said he didn't even have a gun when he approached Logan and Bronaugh. He wasn't there to rob them; he just wanted to ask them a question, he said. It was Logan who pulled a gun, he said, adding that a friend sidled up to Hill and handed him a gun.

Hill had been shot in the leg a week previously and said if he'd had a gun then he probably wouldn't have been shot. On Jan. 31 outside the Legion he believed he was in a shoot-or-be-shot situation, he said.

The jury didn't buy his story. Charges of first-degree manslaughter -- a crime committed "in the heat of passion" -- and second-degree unintentional murder were added Thursday morning at the request of the defense. Hill was found not guilty of the former, guilty of the latter.

"To the family of the deceased, I apologize," he said. "I'm sorry. If I could go back and change anything I will. That's all I have to say."

Judge Warner told Hill, "I often hear people call situations like this tragic, senseless. This whole situation was in the control of one person and that was you.

"You sat here as an innocent man until the jury rendered its verdicts. ... They rendered a fair and just verdict."