HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016 01-21 Two More Charged in Maplewood Dad's Drug-related Shooting Death PIONEER PRESS 1/22/2016 www.twincities.com/portlet/article/htm1/fragments/print—article.jsp?articleld=29414197&siteld=569
2 more charged in Maplewood dad's drug-related shooting death
By Elizabeth Mohr
emohr@pioneerpress.com
Twin Cities.corn-Pioneer Press
Posted:Wed Jan 20 23:01:00 MST 2016
Two more men have been charged in a November home invasion that left a Maplewood
father dead.
Ernest Donald Atchison Jr. and Bradley James Cook were charged Thursday, each with one
count of second-degree murder.
Atchison, 32, of St. Paul was arrested Tuesday and is being held in the Ramsey County Jail.
His first court appearance will be Thursday afternoon.
A warrant has been issued for Cook, 35, of North Branch.
Prosecutors charged Brandon Lamar Cooper, 30, of St. Paul with two counts of second-
degree murder in December.
According to police reports and criminal complaints, Maplewood police were called to a
home in the 220o block of Hazel Street about 4:45 a.m. Nov. 7 on a report of a man shot
during a burglary.
First responders were met outside the home by the victim's girlfriend, who was distraught
and covered with blood. She said she and her boyfriend, Justin Niles Wright, had been asleep
in their bedroom before she heard an unknown male in the hallway say, "Tell me where it's
at,if according to a criminal complaint.
She said Wright also was in the hallway and she saw him lunge toward a dark figure. She said
she heard a single gunshot and then Wright staggered through the house until he collapsed
in the living room, charges said.
Inside the home, police found Wright lying in the living room. He had been shot once and
was declared dead at the scene.
Wright's two daughters lived with him but were away at a sleepover at the time of the
shooting.
The girlfriend, identified in charging documents as KCR, informed police that she and
Wright were selling marijuana out of their home and that "she told some of her customers
hftp://www.twincities.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print—article.jsp?articleld=29414197&siteld=569 1/2
1/22/2016 www.twi ncities.com/portlet/article/htm 1/fragments/pri nt_article.jsp?articleld=29414197&siteld=569
that (Wright) kept significant amounts of marijuana at the house."
Investigators learned from a cooperating witness that the burglary "was set up by a male who
knew the female resident of the home," the charges said. The male told others there were
drugs and money in the home, but he "did not want to enter the home because he feared that
the female would recognize him," so he "and his associates contacted Cooper to participate in
the burglary."
Cooper is accused of being the shooter.
Cooper was arrested and charged first. Investigators said they found his DNA on a Smith &
Wesson 9mm handgun in a yard two blocks from Wright's home. The gun matched a bullet
casing found at the scene, a criminal complaint said.
A witness said Cooper admitted he shot Wright but said he was only trying to scare him,
according to the complaint.
Informants told police that Cook planned and participated in the burglary, along with a
"shorter white male" who unscrewed a light bulb on a neighbor's motion light, according to a
criminal complaint.
Police located the light bulb and found Atchison's DNA on it, the charges said.
Wright's girlfriend told police she knows Atchison, the criminal complaint said. "She said he
is part of a ring of burglars and she suspected that he may have been involved in targeting
(Wright's) home to steal marijuana and cash."
Cellphone records for Cooper, Cook and Atchison reportedly confirm they were
communicating with each other around the time of the burglary and were close to Wright's
home at the time he was shot, charges said.
Elizabeth Mohr can be reached at 651-228-5162. Follow her attwitter.com/LizMohr.
http://www.twi nciti es.com/portl et/arti cl a/htm 1/fragments/pri nt_arti cl e.jsp?arti cl eld=29414197&siteld=569 2/2