On a summer afternoon that also marked his 37th birthday, Steffon T. Jennings, a Black/African American male, was killed in a homeless encampment in Saint Paul, Minnesota. On July 20, 2025, police were called to the encampment on Maryland Avenue near Jackson Street around 1:15 p.m. Inside a tent, they found Jennings seated in a chair, having been shot multiple times. Medics pronounced him dead at the scene shortly before 1:30 p.m.
An autopsy later determined he had sustained seven gunshot wounds.
The investigation into the homicide led police to 21-year-old Francisco Diaz-Xique of Aitkin, Minnesota. He was subsequently arrested and charged with second-degree murder. The alleged motive for the shooting was a small debt over a fentanyl purchase. A critical piece of evidence was a slip of paper with a phone number found in Jennings's jacket pocket, which authorities linked to Diaz-Xique.
Surveillance footage from a nearby business captured Diaz-Xique, another man, and a woman walking to the encampment around 1 p.m. About 15 minutes later, the two men returned to their vehicle. A search of the car uncovered a box of 9-millimeter cartridges, Diaz-Xique's wallet and identification, and one of his fingerprints. Witnesses reported that the trio was new to the encampment and had been selling fentanyl. One witness stated that Jennings was shot because he had been fronted a "ball" and was not going to pay the money back. Jennings's sister, Tommalisha Edmonds, remembered her brother, also known as "SK" or "Rapper Skills," for his charming personality, artistic views, and the music he left behind.
