Royal Terrell Arrington, who was charged with murder for allegedly shooting and killing his father in St. Paul, has had the charges against him dropped. Arrington said that during the fight last year, his father shot him, injuring him.
After examining forensic data and the medical examiner’s findings, the Ramsey County Attorney’s office “decided it could not refute a self-defense claim beyond a reasonable doubt,” according to Dennis Gerhardstein, a spokesperson for the agency.
Royal Terrell Arrington’s father passed away on September 24 in the Payne-Phalen area. The criminal complaint states that eight rounds were fired at the 44-year-old.
The 25-year-old son was wounded in the bicep and cheek. His injuries were life-threatening, but he overcame them, according to Arrington’s lawyer Bethany O’Neill.
The younger Arrington frequently slept in an apartment in the 1200 block of Westminster Street, and according to reports, there was a dispute on September 23 over the living situation there. The elder Arrington arrived and, according to the lawsuit, “was able to settle things down.”
O’Neill claimed that she didn’t believe the younger Arrington was “very much at all” involved in the altercation. She claimed to be unaware of the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The younger Arrington first told police that when he was shot, he was heading toward the home of his girlfriend. He subsequently claimed that his father confronted him in the Westminster apartment building’s corridor and that he “had no choice except to fight back,” according to the lawsuit.
According to Gerhardstein, the county attorney’s office “settled the case for the highest provable offense” last week. Arrington admitted to having a gun without a license, and Judge Kelly Olmstead gave him a year and a day’s term in accordance with the sentencing guidelines.
After entering a guilty plea and having his sentence served, Arrington was freed from the Ramsey County prison after being detained there for almost 10 months. The majority of Minnesotan prisoners complete two-thirds of their sentences behind bars and the final third under supervision.
