A second suspect has been arrested and charged in the killing of Alex Becker, a 22-year-old repeatedly shot in his St. Paul alley after walking home from a late-night work shift in December.

Detwan Cortell Allen, 18, of St. Paul, faces aiding and abetting second-degree murder in connection with the fatal shooting in the city’s North End just before midnight Dec. 27. An autopsy showed Becker had been shot six times.

Becker was a 2019 graduate of Como Park Senior High School. He was returning home from work at Goodin Co. on Como Avenue when he was “robbed and shot outside his home only a few feet from his door and his mother,” his aunt Hidy Hammarsten wrote on a GoFundMe webpage she set up to help his family.

“Alex was a gentle, young man who spent his free time playing video games with his younger brothers, watching movies with his sister, and helping his friends and parents in any way he could,” Hammarsten wrote.

Previous suspect

Prosecutors charged Arteze Owen Kinerd, 20, of Minneapolis, nine days after the murder. Police said at the time they were working to identify “everyone who was present at the shooting” and determine their roles.

Surveillance video showed a stolen Toyota Camry drive past Becker and soon three men running down the alley in the 500 block of West Lawson Avenue he had just walked down, according to the charges, which do not mention robbery or any other apparent motive. Another surveillance system recorded four rapid gunshots followed by three rapid gunshots and a final gunshot.

Officers on Jan. 2 found the stolen Camry parked three blocks from Kinerd’s apartment building in North Minneapolis. It was the same apartment where a cellphone that was taken in a recent home invasion robbery in St. Paul pinged during an investigation, the charges say.

Investigators learned that three men had left the apartment building less than two hours before the shooting and that they wore the same distinct clothing as the men who followed Becker into the alley. Surveillance video showed them returning to the apartment about a half-hour after the killing.

Police arrested Kinerd at a gas station near his apartment Jan. 3. A handgun was found hidden on a store shelf where he had ducked down after seeing officers. Forensic ballistic tests came back showing the gun was used in Becker’s killing, the charges say.

Later, in an interview with investigators, Kinerd was evasive when asked whether he was among the three men seen on video returning to his apartment shortly after the killing. He said it wasn’t him and didn’t know them. When asked where he was the night of the murder, he refused to answer.

DNA evidence

On Jan. 25, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension returned a report of physical evidence taken from inside the Camry. A DNA swab taken from the driver’s door shows Allen as the main profile, according to the criminal complaint filed against him on Friday.

Kinerd’s probation officers said he has a friend known as “Dae Dae,” which police later confirmed is Allen, the charges state.

St. Paul police arrested Allen on Wednesday in Minneapolis, and he later declined a formal interview. He made a first appearance on the murder charge Friday, and remains jailed on $1 million bail.

Last week, Becker’s aunt wrote an update on the GoFundMe webpage, which has raised more than $45,000. “The community has been so kind and compassionate towards our family,” Hammarsten said. “Alex was a really kind and generous person.”

She asks people to participate in a “Random Act of Kindness Day” on Saturday in Becker’s honor “to help spread kindness throughout the world. Alex would be so happy.” A Facebook page — “Act of Kindness Day honoring Alex Becker” — has also been created.