Boom Island Park murder charges say gunman fired at partygoers from circling car

A gang member was summoned to a birthday gathering at a popular city park on the Mississippi River in pursuit of a rival, then unleashed from a circling car a flurry of gunfire that killed a woman and wounded four men, according to charges filed Friday.

Zyere Jakye Porter, 23, was charged in Hennepin County District Court with one count of second-degree murder, four counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of drive-by shooting in connection with the June 1 gunfire at Boom Island Park.

Stageina Whiting, 23, of Brooklyn Center, died at HCMC from a gunshot wound to the torso. One of the people wounded remains in critical condition as of Friday afternoon and “fully paralyzed,” the charges read.

Upon Porter’s arrest, Police Chief Brian O’Hara said in a statement: “I am grateful for the thorough and dedicated investigative work that led to the arrest of this individual. As the investigation proceeds, I hope this arrest brings some level of justice and comfort to the victims and their loved ones.”

Investigators determined that Porter and two other people were asked to come to the park to help “fellow Low End gang members attack a known ‘opp,’ a term commonly used for opposing gang members,” the charges read.

According to the criminal complaint:

Officers raced to the scene about 9:30 p.m. and tallied roughly 130 discharged cartridge casings. They believe at least nine guns were fired during the mayhem.

Surveillance video showed Porter arriving at a large birthday party in the park in a Dodge Challenger. The party moved there after authorities kicked the attendees out of French Park in Plymouth.

A man got out of the Challenger, was chased down and shot. He went to the hospital in a different vehicle. The complaint did not disclose who shot the man.

The video captured the Challenger leaving the park after the shooting but soon returning. A passenger sat on the edge of an open window as the car circled the parking lot, “with the passenger shooting into the crowd multiple times,” the complaint read.

On June 3, investigators tracked down the Challenger outside Porter’s home “and [it] was now green instead of black, and its license plate had been removed,” the charges noted.

Parked next to the Challenger was another vehicle positioned to block the Challenger from street view. Inside the other car were numerous guns and ammunition.

Investigators found inside the Challenger a live .40-caliber round and a .40-caliber shell casing. Testing confirmed the casing was fired from the same gun that fired near where Whiting was shot. Also, the bullet recovered from her body “was consistent with the .40-caliber class,” the charges continued.

Police arrested Porter Thursday afternoon at his home in the 7800 block of Terrace Road NE. in Spring Lake Park. He remains jailed in lieu of $3 million bail ahead of a July 25 court hearing. Messages were left with his attorney seeking a response to the allegations.

Court records in Minnesota show that Porter has convictions for illegal gun possession, fleeing police and auto theft.

There have been 27 homicides in the city this year, according to a Minnesota Star Tribune database. That compares to 35 at this time last year.