Last month, police found Carlos Michael Rogers with a gunshot wound to his face amid a crowd of people outside a St. Paul bar. Now, two men face charges connected to his death.
Charles Eugene Frye, 37, and Justin Darrell Reynolds, 29, were both charged with second-degree murder in the death of Carlos Michael Rogers, according to criminal complaints filed against them in Ramsey County District Court.
The 28-year-old was killed outside Born’s Bar in the 800 block of Rice Street around 1:30 a.m. on June 11.
The St. Paul man had reportedly gotten into a dispute with one of the bouncers at the bar around that time and was kicked out of the establishment. He was accompanied by a woman who later told police that Rogers was like an uncle to her.
Frye, Reynolds and another woman were standing outside the bar when Rogers and the other woman were escorted outside, the complaint said.
At that point, the woman with Frye and Reynolds reportedly punched Rogers, prompting the woman with him to intervene, court documents say.
Shortly after Rogers and another man broke up the fight between the two women, Frye “took a swing” at Rogers, the complaint said.
His “niece” stepped in on his behalf and punched Frye, reportedly sending him to the ground.
That’s when Frye instructed Reynolds to “get” Rogers, the complaint said.
Reynolds raised his gun and shot Rogers in the head, court documents say.
Then he, Frye and the woman they arrived with fled in a Monte Carlo, according to the complaint.
Police found Rogers on the ground with no pulse amid a “hostile” crowd of screaming and fighting people that had gathered outside the bar, the complaint said.
The woman who had been with Rogers that night as well as another bar patron both identified Reynolds and Frye as the men involved in the deadly altercation.
Surveillance footage captured at the scene corroborates their involvement, the complaint said.
The woman later told police that there had been ill will between Frye and Rogers stemming from a 2011 murder, court documents say.
Frye’s criminal record includes convictions for terroristic threats, fifth-degree drug possession and driving while intoxicated. He was arrested last month and is expected to make his next court appearance July 13. His public defender could not be immediately reached for comment.
Reynolds has been convicted of domestic assault, terroristic threats and driving while intoxicated. He was arrested last month and is expected to make his next court appearance July 13. He does not yet appear to have an attorney.
Rogers had been released from prison about a week and a half before he was killed and had been focusing on stabilizing his life and caring for his children, his cousin said shortly after his death.
He was imprisoned for drug possession.
Rogers faced danger in the past: He was shot when he was 14 and 17 years old, police records show.