A 17-year-old male, Kle Swee, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to shooting and killing 44-year-old Michael Brasel outside his St. Paul home in May. Swee has agreed to be sentenced as an adult and pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder as part of a plea deal. The defendant waived his certification proceedings, resulting in his case being moved from juvenile to adult court.
According to a criminal complaint, Swee and 18-year-old defendant Ta Mla were driving around looking to steal items from vehicles when they encountered Brasel. Mla stated that he was searching Brasel’s SUV for a phone charger when Brasel surprised them and grabbed Mla from behind. Swee, acting as a lookout, fired a shot that struck and killed Brasel.
The sentencing for Swee is scheduled for October 4th at 9 a.m. State prosecutors will request a sentence of 25 ½ years in prison, which is the maximum permitted under the plea agreement. Attorney information for Swee was not available on the online court records page.
