41-year-old Minneapolis man Antonio D. Wright was arrested in Chicago Wednesday morning in connection to Sunday’s triple homicide in St. Paul.
The medical examiner identified the deceased victims as Angelica M. Gonzales, 33, Cory U. Freeman, 42, and Maisha M. Spaulding, 44, all of St. Paul. Two other victims were injured in the shooting.
Police said Wright’s arrest was a joint effort of the St. Paul Police Department and the FBI’s Violent Crime Task Force.
“I applaud our Saint Paul officers’ diligent pursuit of those responsible for the nightmare we endured this weekend,” said Mayor Melvin Carter. “Thanks to their swift work, we can begin to heal and move forward.”
Police said they can’t release additional information at this time, like how Wright knew the victims or if additional suspects are being sought.
The holiday weekend was “shattered,” as a police spokesperson put it, when officers responded Sunday afternoon to the 900 block of Case Avenue East in the city’s Payne-Phalen neighborhood.
They arrived to find two people outside with gunshot wounds, who told police there were three additional victims inside the house. Paramedics responded and pronounced the three victims inside dead at the scene.
Police revealed on Sunday that there have been 17 calls in the past year to the house where the victims were found, including calls for aggravated assault and domestic crimes. However, the police chief later said investigators had ruled out a domestic cause for the shooting.
A police spokesperson described the crime scene as “one of the most complex” they have seen “in a long time.”
Wright was sentenced to more than 4.5 years in prison in 2018 in connection to a 2017 third-degree cocaine sales charge. He was on supervised release at the time of the shooting. Offenders are only required to serve two-thirds of their sentences behind bars in Minnesota.
Back in 2013, Wright was charged and later convicted of third-degree felony assault and misdemeanor domestic assault. He was convicted three times for violating domestic abuse no-contact orders or orders for protection.
He also has a 2012 conviction for first-degree burglary of an occupied dwelling.
“We know this arrest does not erase tragedy,” said Saint Paul Assistant Police Chief Stacy Murphy. “However, it allows us to start the slow healing process together.”
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
