Minnesota
Man acquitted of killing 3 in Minnesota now convicted in unrelated kidnapping, shooting
A Minnesota man acquitted of killing three people in a 2022 shooting could be heading to prison anyway after being found guilty of kidnapping and shooting a man in St. Paul.
Jurors on Tuesday convicted Antonio Wright after about four hours of deliberation, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported. Wright, 42, of Minneapolis, faces sentencing Jan. 29.
The 37-year-old victim was found by police on the front porch of a home with four gunshot wounds on Sept. 2, 2022. Prosecutors said Wright shot the man out of fear that he was going to talk to police after hearing Wright discuss a 2017 killing.
A message left Thursday with Wright’s lawyer wasn’t immediately returned.
Two days after the shooting on Sept. 2, 2022, five people were shot in St. Paul. Three of the victims died. Prosecutors charged Wright with second-degree murder and attempted murder.
Wright, who had eight prior felony convictions, was arrested Sept. 7, 2022, in Chicago, and charged in connection with the shootings on Sept. 2 and Sept. 4, 2022.
Wright waived his right to a jury in the triple homicide case. At trial in September, his attorney, Joe Friedberg, argued in his written closing that Wright had a “proven” alibi: He was in Chicago at the time.
Ramsey County Judge Kelly Olmstead found Wright not guilty on all charges. “There’s insufficient evidence to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is the person who committed these heinous crimes,” Olmstead said.
Thanks for reading CBS NEWS.
Create your free account or log in
for more features.
Minnesota
NEXT Weather: 10 p.m. report for Minnesota from Dec. 21, 2024
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Minnesota
Party City to shutter hundreds of stores across the U.S., including 10 in Minnesota
Hit by headwinds including inflationary pressures, competition from e-commerce sites, big box retailers, pop-up stores and even a helium shortage, Party City is going out of business.
The closing of the nation’s largest party supply store, reported by CNN on Friday, is expected to shutter more than 700 retail stores in North America by the end of February, including 10 stores in Minnesota.
According to the company’s website, Party City has outlets in Apple Valley, Bloomington, Chanhassen, Coon Rapids, Maple Grove, Maplewood, Roseville, St. Cloud, St. Louis Park and Woodbury. Employees contacted at stores in Roseville, St. Cloud and Apple Valley said they had heard of the closing but could not comment.
Party City, which sells everything from balloons, costumes and birthday banners to gender reveal props and New Year’s Eve tiaras, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2023. That resulted in the cancellation of nearly $1 billion in debt.
The 38-year-old New Jersey-based company exited bankruptcy after naming a new CEO, Barry Litwin, in August. But the company was still contending with more than $800 million in debt, according to CNN. The New York Times reported the company employed more than 16,000 people.
Minnesota
Report: Falcons likely to cut former Vikings QB Kirk Cousins
The Atlanta Falcons are likely to cut Kirk Cousins before mid-March, less than a year after he left the Minnesota Vikings to head to Georgia.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that “executives across the leave” believe Cousins’ exit from Atlanta will happen before a $10 million roster bonus is due on Mar. 17, with Schefter citing “multiple sources” who say a split is now inevitable.
It comes in the week that Falcons made the decision to bench Cousins in favor of rookie QB Michael Penix, Jr., whom the Falcons drafted at No. 8 in March shortly after signing Cousins to a four-year, $160 million deal.
Given Cousins has a no-trade clause in his Falcons contract, Schefter notes that it’s unlikely Atlanta will be able to find a suitable deal to trade Cousins, meaning he’s likely to hit the free agent market for the second year running.
Cousins entered the season still recovering from the Achilles injury that ended his final year with the Vikings, and has struggled under center, with the tipping point for Atlanta coming after a 41-21 loss in Minnesota to the Vikings and a 15-9 win over the struggling Las Vegas Raiders, where Cousins threw for only 112 yards, one TD and one INT.
He still showed flashes of his old brilliance however, namely in the 31-26 win over the Tampa Bay Bucaneers in late October, when he threw for 276 yards and four TDs.
After moving on from Cousins, the Vikings signed Sam Darnold for a one-year, $10 million deal and drafted JJ McCarthy with the 10th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.
-
Politics1 week ago
Canadian premier threatens to cut off energy imports to US if Trump imposes tariff on country
-
Technology1 week ago
OpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever says the way AI is built is about to change
-
Politics1 week ago
U.S. Supreme Court will decide if oil industry may sue to block California's zero-emissions goal
-
Technology1 week ago
Meta asks the US government to block OpenAI’s switch to a for-profit
-
Politics1 week ago
Conservative group debuts major ad buy in key senators' states as 'soft appeal' for Hegseth, Gabbard, Patel
-
Business7 days ago
Freddie Freeman's World Series walk-off grand slam baseball sells at auction for $1.56 million
-
Technology7 days ago
Meta’s Instagram boss: who posted something matters more in the AI age
-
News7 days ago
East’s wintry mix could make travel dicey. And yes, that was a tornado in Calif.