Search warrant that led to Amir Locke’s death was tied to marijuana deal gone wrong

St. Paul police car.
St. Paul police car. Photo credit Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Following an arrest and charges being delivered in a St. Paul homicide investigation, the search warrant involved in the death of Amir Locke has been unsealed.

This comes after the arrest of Mehki Speed, 17, and second-degree murder charges were filed against him for the death of Otis Elder. Speed's mother is Cheryl Locke, the aunt of Locke. They're all connected to the warrant that led to Locke's death at the hands of police.

The documents detailed the probable cause of Edler's death as a marijuana deal gone wrong in St. Paul.

The documents say police reviewed surveillance footage and received witness statements the night of Edler's murder that indicated a Mercedes-Benz was seen being driven by the men suspected of killing Edler.

The vehicle was then found in a Minneapolis parking ramp on Jan. 21, and it was recovered by St. Paul investigators. Inside there was a white and yellow powder, appearing to be the substance from a fire extinguisher, the report said.

Investigators obtained a video of the car arriving at the ramp on Jan. 11 and not moving until it was found ten days later. The vehicle was driven to the ramp four hours after Edler's murder, and the video showed four males exiting the car and taking things, including a large black duffle bag, from the truck.

Police reviewed the video of Edler's murder and found that the Mercedes-Benz was parked near Edler's vehicle the night he was shot. The footage showed two men interacting with Edler before being shot by one of them wearing a dark jacket and light-colored hoodie.

The two men got into the Mercedes-Benz, and police were able to track it arriving at the Bolero Flats, and the man suspected of shooting Edler, wearing the black jacket, had pulled out a fob to enter the building. Witnesses at the apartment building later identified the man as Speed.

Based on that, three search warrants were issued for three different apartments that Speed was believed to have a connection with. One his brother occupied, one his mother occupied, and one his friend occupied.

On Feb. 2, police executed the warrant for apartment 701, where Speed's brother and his girlfriend lived. This is where they found and shot Locke while entering the apartment.

As far as evidence they uncovered via the warrant, in the apartment, they obtained the jacket believed to have been worn by Speed in the parking ramp and at the scene of the murder. They also recovered a weapon legally owned by Locke and an unspecified amount of marijuana, the documents say.

The documents then say that the police executed search warrants for the other two apartments as well. In his mother's apartment, they found the duffle bag seen in surveillance footage from the night of Edler's death. In his friend's apartment, they found a "large amount of marijuana." No one was present during either of the following searches.

Police were able to locate Speed in Winona, Minnesota, over the weekend, and he was arrested and transported to the Ramsey County Juvenile Detention Center. He was found with a loaded gun and refused to speak with investigators.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images