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Maplewood liquor store shooting suspects identified
Updated 02/14/201511:20:10AMCST FE� '�' �' 2015 TwinCities.com
Maplewood liquor store shooting suspects identified
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Maplewood: One dead in shooting outside liquor store
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--�-��' -��=�- ��'� Police are focusing on two teens believed to be affiliated with a
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�V�s Snor a��a k��rea oc� z�, 2or4, �ocal gang as suspects in the fatal shooting that left a 25-year-
outsrde Merwin Liquors ir� old father dead outside a Maplewood liquor store this fall.
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old son. (Undated photo A criminal informant told officers that Tyvion Benson, 18, and
Michael Trevino, 19, of Maplewood are connected to the Oct. 25 slaying of Terrence
Jermaine Woods, according to a search warrant filed in Ramsey County District Court.
When questioned, Trevino admitted to investigators that he was at the scene of the crime
with Benson but said Benson was the shooter, court documents say.
Benson and Trevino reportedly are part of the local Hit Squad Gang. Benson does not
appear to have a permanent address.
Neither is in police custody nor have they been charged.
"The investigation remains very active, and we are looking at and are engaged in a variety of
investigative efforts to further identify and confirm the people responsible for this murder,"
Maplewood Police Chief Paul Schnell said. "We do feel that we are getting closer."
Woods and two of his cousins were on their way into Merwin Liquors on Rice Street on Oct.
25 when people sitting in a white sedan asked them to buy liquor for the vehicle's occupants.
The men declined, and two walked into the liquor store while the third hung back and briefly
exchanged words with the people in the car before joining his cousins inside.
When they left the store, multiple shots reportedly were fired from the white sedan, fatally
striking Woods and injuring his cousin Jamif Isaiah Ellis, 24.
The third cousin was unharmed.
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Maplewood liquor store shooting suspects identified - TwinCities.com Page 2 of 2
Woods had a 3-year-old son and was a well-liked manager at Wingstop in Roseville.
The car fled northbound on Rice Street after the shooting, court documents say.
Evidence recovered at the scene indicates both a 9mm and a .38 caliber were fired at the
men and that the vehicle involved was a white Mazda 3, Schnell said.
Investigators later determined that the car belongs to Trevino's mother and found a gun
matching the description of the 9mm used in the shooting stowed at Benson's girlfriend's
residence in St. Paul, where Benson recently has stayed, court documents said.
The sedan has been processed by police, Schnell said. They still are testing the gun to
determine if it was the one used in the shooting.
The two cousins who survived the shooting told police three men fired at them from the car
during the altercation. Trevino denied that a third person was involved. He also said he was
not a shooter, court documents say.
"That right now is one of the key focuses of this investigation, trying to determine exacfily
how many people were in that car," Schnell said.
Neither Benson nor Trevino could be reached for comment.
Sarah Horner can be reached at 651-228-5539. Follow her at twitter.com/hornsarah.
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