Digital Forensics Dispatch

Images on Cellphone Help Identify Suspect in St. Paul Homicide

December 29, 2020

Liz Sawyer of the Star Tribune reports that photos from a teen’s cellphone were crucial in identifying the suspect in the death of 17-year-old Elijah Watson. On December 14, police responded to a call of a shooting that happened in the 500 block of W. Jessamine Ave at around 2pm. They found the body of Watson who had been shot. Witnesses reported hearing gunshots and seeing males run down the street and get into a black car. Another call of a suspicious person wiping down a parked vehicle before the person got in another car was also reported to police, where they discovered a stolen Pontiac G6 with blood on the door and window.

Investigators discovered a cellphone on Watson that contained photographs that were timestamped from an hour before the shooting took place. One of the photos showed Watson inside a stolen vehicle with three other boys, including the suspect in his death, Javeon Kohene. Security footage from a supermarket showed the boys entering the store and then returning to the stolen Pontiac G6. The next day a report of a teenager matching the description of Kohene approached a woman claiming he needed help jumping his car and made off with her purse and vehicle. Police found the stolen vehicle at Kohene’s home where they also found a .40-caliber handgun that forensic tests confirmed as the murder weapon.

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