St. Paul Park police have wrapped up their investigation into the fatal shooting of a 20-year-old St. Paul Park man in August. The case is now under review by the Washington County attorney’s office for possible charges.
Police have said Regino Manuel Nitti’s death was an accident.
“The preliminary investigation indicates that the person responsible for the shooting is an acquaintance of the victim and a gun was inadvertently discharged, resulting in the fatal injuries,” Police Chief Mike Monahan said in a statement after Nitti’s death.
The shooter’s name has not been released.
Police were called to an apartment building, at Fifth Street and Pullman Avenue across from a park, about 1:45 a.m. Aug. 10 on a report that a man had been shot. Police said shortly afterward that it was an isolated incident and that there was no threat to the public.
A St. Paul man convicted of accidentally shooting and killing a friend in St. Paul Park will avoid prison time if he behaves.
Bernard F. Poston Jr., 23, pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in July and was sentenced Friday.
Washington County District Court Chief Judge John Hoffman issued a prison sentence of 57 months — about five years — but stayed the sentence for 10 years. Instead, Poston was ordered to spend one year in the Washington County Jail, effective immediately, and to be placed on probation for 10 years. A $10,000 fine also was stayed.
A 22-year-old St. Paul man has been charged in the August shooting death of a friend during a night of drinking at the victim’s home in St. Paul Park, according to a complaint.
Bernard Poston Jr. was charged with second-degree manslaughter in the killing of Regino Nitti, 20. The shooting happened Aug. 10 at Nitti’s apartment in the 1100 block of 5th Street, near Oltman Middle School. According to police, Poston, Nitti and two other friends had been “drinking, talking and watching television” at the time of the shooting.
Sometime after midnight, Poston reached for the .12 gauge Mossberg shotgun Nitti kept stashed in his closet. Poston later told police he thought the gun was unloaded when he pointed it in his friend’s direction, according to a criminal complaint filed in Washington County District Court on Oct. 3.
http://www.twincities.com/washingtoncounty/ci_24141478/fatal-st-paul-park-shooting-being-reviewed
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2013/08/12/victim-idd-in-st-paul-park-shooting-death/
http://www.twincities.com/crime/ci_23845814/details-st-paul-park-shooting-death-sparse
http://www.twincities.com/crime/ci_26538666/st-paul-man-sentenced-friends-shooting-death
https://www.facebook.com/reginonitti93
http://www.kare11.com/story/news/local/2013/12/03/3845927/
http://www.twincities.com/crime/ci_23845814/details-st-paul-park-shooting-death-sparse
http://www.startribune.com/local/east/227137511.html
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2013/08/10/authorities-man-found-dead-at-st-paul-park-home/
http://www.kesslermaguire.com/obituary/Regino-Gino-Nitti/St.-Paul-MN/1233552
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