MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 17-year-old boy has been indicted by a grand jury on first-degree murder charges in the death of 5-year-old Nizzel George.
Stephen Terrell Shannon was indicted in Hennepin County Court on Friday of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder in the June 26 shooting death in north Minneapolis.
The incident happened that morning at a house on the 4500 block of Bryant Avenue North in Minneapolis. George was sleeping on a couch in the home when bullets came through the wall from the outside.
According to previous charges filed in the case, Shannon allegedly told a witness that he made peace with God about the shooting and was “sorry about the baby.” The witness tried to get Shannon to turn himself in but he refused, saying the police “didn’t have nothin’ on him.”
The criminal complaint says Shannon told a witness he fired at the house. He also said he was on the porch of a nearby house when it was shot at the night before, and he believed someone associated with the house where Nizzel was staying was responsible.
Shannon also berated officers for the unsolved September murder of a teenager, and said if he knew who committed that crime, he would not tell police but would take care of it himself.
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman described Nizzel’s death as having possibly stemmed from an act of bravado at a convenience store that involved the 15-year-old boy.
If convicted, Shannon faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
