A St. Paul man who police say fatally shot a tobacco store worker less than an hour after leaving a court hearing pleaded guilty to the killing on Monday, a week before his trial was to start. Elias-Kareem Hany Aly, 22, entered the plea to second-degree unintentional murder in the Feb. 16, 2023, killing of Abdullah Arif outside Union Tobacco on St. Paul’s West Side, where the 48-year-old .
St. Paul police continue to solve homicides at a higher-than-average rate: there has been an arrest or resolution in all except three of 2023's homicides.
Homicides in St. Paul in 2023 declined from recent years, but are still higher than five years ago. St. Paul’s homicide rate began increasing in 2019 and peaked in 2022 with 40 homicides. There were 32 homicides this year as of Saturday afternoon. St. Paul averaged 17 homicides a year between 2010 and 2018. “I’ll never be happy until the numbers are zero,” Police Chief Axel Henry said recently. .