A 54-year-old man has received a 40-year prison term for murdering a chef at a memorial gathering in St. Paul and then asking others there, “Who else wants it?”
John Lee Edmondson, of St. Louis Park, was sentenced Friday in Ramsey County District Court after jurors found him guilty in April of second-degree intentional murder and illegal gun possession in connection with the shooting of Larry Earl Jiles Jr. more than two years ago outside Kings Crossing by Episcopal Homes, an apartment complex for seniors in St. Paul.
In the trial, jurors also acquitted Edmondson of the same count stemming from the shooting of Troy Robert Kennedy. They also came back with not guilty verdicts on first-degree murder counts for both killings.
With credit for time in jail since his arrest, Edmondson is expected to serve roughly 24 years in prison and the balance on supervised release.
Late in the afternoon on Feb. 25, 2023, a group met in the community room for the memorial before filtering out to the parking lot, where the shots were fired that struck Kennedy, 37, of St. Paul, and Jiles, 34, of Hugo. Jiles was a chef catering the event in the housing complex near the intersection of N. Dale Street and University Avenue W.
According to the criminal complaint, based on witness accounts:
As memorial attendees were instructed to leave, people were arguing in the parking lot “possibly about working with the police and snitching.”
Edmondson put his arm around Jiles and shot him three times in the head and neck. He then fired at least six shots from his hip at everyone in the parking lot and allegedly wounded Kennedy, his cousin.
