In the early evening of July 6, 2021, Kiefer Morgan, a 30-year-old White male, was fatally shot in a residence on the 1100 block of Pacific Street in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The incident unfolded around 6:40 p.m. in the Dayton's Bluff neighborhood, where first responders found Morgan on the dining room floor with multiple gunshot wounds. Despite their efforts, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The home, where Morgan was with his fiancée, her mother, and several children, became a
scene of chaos when three men arrived for a prearranged marijuana deal. According to witness statements, Morgan was communicating with an individual later identified as Brian D. Booth, a 20-year-old from Saint Paul, to arrange the sale of an ounce of marijuana. One of the men entered the house to complete the transaction while the other two waited outside.
The situation escalated when two of the men outside began forcefully kicking an exterior door. As Morgan's fiancée's mother tried to barricade the door, gunshots rang out. Morgan was struck five times, including twice in the chest. In the midst of the violence, the grandmother managed to move the children into a back bedroom to shield them from harm. After the shooting, Morgan's fiancée came downstairs to find him wounded and began administering CPR.
The investigation quickly led authorities to Booth. He was arrested two days later in Ames, Iowa. A search of Booth's residence in Saint Paul uncovered ammunition that matched the caliber used in the shooting. Morgan's fiancée later identified Booth from a photo lineup as the individual who was inside the home during the shooting. Booth, who had a prior criminal record including two robbery convictions, was charged with second-degree intentional murder.
In February 2023, Brian D. Booth, then 22, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for his role in Kiefer Morgan's death. He was subsequently sentenced to 21 years in prison. With credit for time served since his arrest, he is expected to serve approximately twelve and a half years of his sentence in prison, with the remainder on supervised release.
