MINNEAPOIS – A 17-year-old fugitve who was captured Monday in Winona has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder. At a hearing Mehki Camden Speed was advised of the charges but was not asked to plea. “I wаnt more time to tаlk to my fаmily аnd my аttorney,” Speed told Judge Stephen Smith. Speed’s court appearance was a video conference. He wore a CoVid face mask, which he pulled down to state his name for the judge. Two defense attorneys appeared on his behalf, but the family had not retained either of them. Judge Smith postponed hearing until next week for the family could decide how to proceed legally. Prosecutors want Speed tried as an adult, which is allowed by Minnesota law for someone as young as 16 for a felony involving a firearm. The judge ordered Speed be retained custody. The allegations, he said. constituted “sufficient grounds to be concerned for public safety.” Speed was already on probation for shooting а teenаger in the leg outside а suburban gаs stаtion in September 2020.
Doleful familial link
Charges against Speed stem from the January 10 slaying of Otis Elder, 38, who was found shot fatally on a Minneapolis street. Police linked Speed to the slaying. A SWAT team looking for Speed went to a cousin’s apartment last week. Although Speed often slept over at the cousin’s place, he wasn’t there. But in the process of the raid a white police officer shot and killed Speed’s cousin, a black man. Accusations of excessive and racist policing followed. Massive racial protests flared.