St. Paul Gang member takes a 30 year Plea for Murder

There was palpable tension inside and outside an eighth-floor courtroom when Marquez D. Storey pleaded guilty Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court to second-degree murder for the benefit of a gang.

Under questioning from his attorney, Storey, 19, admitted that he shot 18-year-old Dionte R. Montantes for no other reason than that Montantes was a member of a rival gang, the Selby Siders.

Storey answered “yes” when his attorney, Mary Mateer, asked if he was a member of the East Side Boys gang and “yes” when asked if his gang committed crimes such as assault, robbery and murder to establish dominance over other gangs.

Montantes, 18, was shot in the head June 19 near the Jimmy Lee Rec Center in St. Paul.

Storey, of St. Paul, said he and four others climbed into a Jeep and drove to Iglehart Avenue and Oxford Street that day because they knew the Rec Center was a hangout for the Selby Siders. Storey had a 9-millimeter handgun with him.

They saw Montantes walking down the street, and Storey and another man got out and chased him. The first shot missed. The second shot hit Montantes in the head.

“Where you looking for [the victim]?” prosecutor Shereen Askalani asked.

“Anybody,” Storey replied.

The plea agreement calls for a sentence of 30 years and seven months, meaning Storey will serve more than 20 years in prison before he is eligible for release. Another charge of second-degree murder committed during a drive-by shooting will be dismissed when he is sentenced Jan. 12 by District Judge Marybeth Dorn.

The large courtroom was filled on one side by family members and associates of the victim and on the other by associates of the defendant. Deputies and police officers asked for a photo ID before people entered the courtroom and kept the two sides from interacting as they left the hearing. At an earlier scheduling conference in the case, three people were arrested after rival gang members confronted one another.