St. Paul / Suspect charged in fatal shooting during drug deal gone bad
After a marijuana deal at a St. Paul home, a man told a friend he was going to shoot the seller in the face but instead shot him in the back, according to a murder charge filed Wednesday.
Vernon Douglas Cafle, 43, was killed in his Dayton's Bluff house Sunday night. The Ramsey County attorney's office charged Jabaris Curt Boldman, 24, of St. Paul, with second-degree murder. It was St. Paul's first homicide of the year.
Cafle's fiancee, Kattie Alexander, said she would like to ask Boldman, "Why did you do that to him?"
Cafle had three adult children and seven grandchildren and was "a family man," Alexander said.
The criminal complaint explained the case this way:
Police were called to 662 Duluth St. at 10:43 p.m. Sunday and found Cafle shot on the porch. Alexander told police that Cafle had been talking to someone on his cell phone, went to meet a man and was shot. She said she gave him CPR.
A cousin of Cafle's who had been visiting told police that Cafle walked to the door and met a man, later identified as Boldman. Soon after, the cousin "heard arguing and then 'three pops' and heard Vernon Cafle call out his name," the complaint said.
Cafle's cousin ran to the porch, saw Cafle lying on the floor and the shooter running toward a vehicle parked in front of the house. Paramedics pronounced Cafle dead at the scene. He was shot in the back of the head and the lower back, an autopsy found.
With cell phone records, police determined Cafle's niece had called him earlier in the evening. The niece, identified in the complaint as F.K.N., told police that Boldman had called her and wanted to buy a pound of marijuana.
"F.K.N. said that she didn't have that much so she called Vernon Cafle to see how much he had, and he said he only had 2 ounces to sell," the complaint said. Boldman told F.K.N. he would buy the 2 ounces, and she gave him Cafle's address.
Police learned a man identified in the complaint as A.M.P. had driven Boldman to Cafle's house. Officers arrested Anthony Mathew Pearson, 27, on Monday night on suspicion of homicide. He has been released pending further investigation, the county attorney's office said.
After A.M.P. turned himself in to police, he told them he had stayed in the car after driving Boldman to buy marijuana, the complaint said. He "looked near the back door and saw a guy charging toward Jabaris Boldman and then saw Boldman shoot the guy," the complaint said. "When Boldman got back into A.M.P.'s car, Boldman told A.M.P. that he was going to shoot the guy in the face but instead he shot him in the back. Boldman also said to A.M.P., 'You didn't see me and I didn't see you.' "
A.M.P. told police he believed it had been a drug rip-off.
About 10 a.m. Monday, Boldman called police and said he would talk to investigators and that he had done nothing wrong.
Boldman didn't go to the Police Department, but an officer spotted him while on patrol at 6 p.m. Monday. When police approached Boldman, he said, "I'm the guy you're after. Take me down. Let's get this over with," the complaint said.
Boldman told police he had been with the mother of his child from 2:30 p.m. Sunday to 12:30 a.m. Monday.
He said he had been trying to set up a deal for a pound of marijuana for a third person and he would get a quarter-ounce for arranging the transaction. Boldman said he called F.K.N., who said "she would set up the deal to purchase a pound of weed with her dope guy and told Boldman where he lived," the complaint said.
But Boldman said the man he was trying to get the drugs for never showed up, and he didn't have a ride. He said he wasn't involved in Cafle's killing.
Police contacted the woman whom Boldman said he had been with. She told police Boldman had been at her house for 15 or 20 minutes Sunday, and she thought it was about 11 or 11:15 p.m.
Boldman remained jailed Wednesday in lieu of $500,000 bail.
Boldman was last released from prison in November, when his sentence expired for two crack-cocaine possession convictions and a felony domestic-assault conviction in 2007.
Cafle had a minor criminal history; it did not include drug offenses.
Cafle was originally from Mississippi and had lived in Minnesota since their 23-year-old daughter was born, Alexander said. He did roofing and enjoyed fishing, she said.
"He was a very loving, kind-hearted person," Alexander said. "If anyone needed help, he would help them."
Mara H. Gottfried can be reached at 651-228-5262.
If You Go
A candlelight vigil is planned for Vernon Cafle at 5 p.m. today outside his home at 662 Duluth St. in St. Paul. The group then will walk to 1311 Conway St. for a 6 p.m. vigil for a 19-year-old man who was shot and critically injured in an unrelated case Saturday.
No one deserves to die at another's hand, regardless of his or her crime. I applaud Reverend Dotson who organized the vigil and Mara Gottfried for being able to see the tragedy of the loss of a life amidst the stain of the circumstances of the death, but the impact on the neighborhood cannot be ignored. Mr. Cafle was engaging in an illegal act--drug dealing--and surely one of just many deals. His actions brought those destitute souls looking for drugs to our neighborhood. His actions brought gun-wielding criminals to our streets. His actions put me in danger and all those around me in danger. Whatever he was--a family man, a good friend--he was not a good neighbor. Endangering those around you for your own gain and the countless outdoor parties he hosted, pulsing with cursing and yelling and loud music, are not the hallmarks of a good neighbor. Mr. Cafle did not deserve the fate that befell him, but neither did we.
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