St. Paul, Minnesota – A Minnesota teenager has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison for fatally shooting a man from behind while wearing a Michael Myers mask, then boasting about the killing on Snapchat. Prosecutors say the gunman “hunted” his target down before firing a single shot to the back of the head on a busy St. Paul street.
Overview of the Deadly Ambush
According to investigators, 19-year-old Jehovah Nelson pleaded guilty in October to second-degree murder with intent in the killing of 24-year-old Dejuan Hemphill. A Ramsey County judge handed him a 12½-year prison sentence on Tuesday.
The shooting unfolded on November 5, 2024, near Rice Street and University Avenue, where St. Paul officers on patrol heard several gunshots ring out shortly before 5 p.m. Within seconds, they spotted a man running and stopped him. The individual told police he had been walking with two cousins when gunfire erupted behind them.
Victim Shot in the Back of the Head
Officers found Hemphill face-down on the street with a devastating gunshot wound to the back of his skull. Paramedics rushed him to the hospital, where a doctor later described the wound as “one of the worst she had worked on.” Hemphill survived for ten days before dying from his injuries.
His cousin told detectives the group heard “three gunshots from behind,” and Hemphill immediately collapsed. Attempts to lift him failed due to the severity of the injury.
How the Attack Unfolded, According to Surveillance Video
Detectives reviewed surveillance footage from a nearby liquor store showing Hemphill and his cousins moments before the shooting. At the same time, Nelson and co-defendant Kenneth Terry, also 19, happened to be inside the store…