On a summer night in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a young Hispanic man named Jorge Ulises Zavaleta-Martinez, aged 20, found his life cut tragically short. On July 25, 2015, Zavaleta-Martinez was in Peavey Park when gunfire erupted. He was struck in the head by a stray bullet and his death was later ruled a homicide. Another man, 24-year-old Abdirahman Ahmed Jined, was also killed in the shooting.
Both men were innocent bystanders, caught in the crossfire of a violent dispute.
The subsequent investigation into the double homicide led authorities to focus on a local gang feud. Police identified a suspect, 23-year-old Antonio Frasion Jenkins Jr., also known by the street name "Popeye." Investigators believed Jenkins was a member of the 20z street gang and that the shooting was part of an ongoing conflict with the rival 10z gang. According to the criminal complaint, Jenkins fired multiple shots at a group of men he believed to be members of the rival gang. Zavaleta-Martinez and Jined were near this group when the shooting began. Jenkins was arrested and subsequently charged with four counts of second-degree murder and four counts of attempted second-degree murder, with several of the charges designated as being for the benefit of a gang.
The case against Antonio Frasion Jenkins Jr. proceeded to trial. Prosecutors presented their evidence, alleging that Jenkins was the gunman responsible for the deaths of the two innocent men. However, the defense team argued that Jenkins was not the perpetrator and that the evidence pointed to another individual being responsible for the violence that night. After a two-week trial, the jury deliberated for only a few hours before reaching a verdict. In June 2016, Antonio Frasion Jenkins Jr. was acquitted of all charges related to the Peavey Park shooting. Following the verdict, no other suspects have been charged in the murders of Jorge Ulises Zavaleta-Martinez and Abdirahman Ahmed Jined, leaving their deaths officially unsolved.
