A 16-year-old Minnesota boy has been charged as police say he intentionally ran over and killed a 70-year-old pedestrian while listening to a song about murder.
Israel Muyaya Madimba was charged with first- and second-degree murder in connection with the fatal attack last Friday in St. Cloud, about 65 miles northwest of Minneapolis, the Stearns County Attorney's Office announced.
St. Cloud police officers responded to a call of a car striking a pedestrian just after 8 p.m. and found the 70-year-old man unresponsive, police said in a news release.
Lifesaving measures were performed on the victim, identified as Norbert John Olmscheid, of St. Cloud. He was taken to a hospital, where he died from his wounds, police said.
Olmscheid had been “walking on a walking path prior to being struck by a vehicle driven by a 16-year-old male from Sauk Rapids,” police said.
The driver ran but was later taken into custody.
An investigation found that Madimba was alleged to have stolen a vehicle from the St. Cloud YMCA blocks away the crash site and shortly after that saw the victim on the walking path between 9th Avenue and 6th Avenue North, authorities said.
The suspect “admitted he drove on the walking path and intentionally struck the victim,” police said.
The criminal complaint revealed that the suspect told officers he turned onto the sidewalk and accelerated behind the victim.
“The defendant admitted listening to a song about murder and then striking the unsuspecting victim,” the criminal complaint said.
His account was corroborated by witnesses, the filing said. An exact motive is still under investigation, officials said.
Madimba was taken to the Stearns County jail and later to a secure juvenile detention center.
Madimba appeared in district court Monday after he was charged with first-degree and second-degree murder, the Stearns County Attorney’s Office said.
He was ordered to be held on $2 million unconditional or $1 million conditional bail. The judge also ordered he undergo a competency examination.
It's not immediately clear whether Madimba has a lawyer.
The first-degree murder count carries a life sentence, the county attorney's office said.
