Amir Locke's Cousin Charged In Homicide Investigation

MINNEAPOLIS — A cousin of Amir Locke — the 22-year-old killed by Minneapolis police during the serving of a no-knock warrant last week — has been arrested and charged in a homicide investigation.

It's the same investigation that prompted Minneapolis police to raid an apartment that Locke was at on Feb. 2, where an officer fatally shot him within seconds of entering.

Locke was not the subject of the warrant, which was executed on behalf of the St. Paul police homicide investigations team. Minneapolis police told their St. Paul counterparts that they would not execute the search warrant for them unless it was a no-knock warrant, the Star Tribune reported.

Following Locke's death, the investigation continued, and police eventually arrested Locke's cousin, 17-year-old Mekhi C. Speed. Speed now faces two counts of second-degree murder as a juvenile in the death of Otis R. Elder. Elder was fatally shot in Saint Paul's Hamline-Midway neighborhood in January.

Ramsey County prosecutors have asked the court for Speed to be tried as an adult.

Speed did not live in the unit where Locke was killed, but he did live in the same Bolero Flats apartment complex at 1117 South Marquette Avenue, police said.

Body-camera video shows an officer using a key to quietly unlock the door to the apartment where Locke was staying. Once inside, several officers began shouting "search warrant" and "police search warrant."

After an officer kicks the coach that Locke is on, Locke — who was sleeping — begins moving under a blanket, handling a handgun. An officer quickly shoots and kills him.

Locke was legally armed when police fatally shot him.

Locke's killing reignited criticism of the Minneapolis Police Department and their use of no-knock warrants from both police reform and gun activists.

Also read:

• MN Gun Owners Caucus Defend Amir Locke In Fatal No-Knock Raid
• Jacob Frey Falsely Told Voters He Banned No-Knock Warrants