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Prosecutors Charge 20-Year-Old in St. Paul Light Rail Beating With Attempted Murder

Prosecutors cite surveillance video, a recovered wooden table leg, plus witness accounts in the felony case.

Overview

  • The attack occurred around 5:45 p.m. Tuesday on the METRO Green Line platform at Fairview and University avenues, according to the complaint.
  • Surveillance footage shows the assailant follow the woman, strike her in the head, then deliver 21 additional blows and continue for 17 seconds after she lost consciousness.
  • Officers arrested Jerrod Rentist Johnson nearby with blood on his hands, and investigators recovered a large wooden table leg with apparent blood on it at the scene.
  • The 31-year-old victim is hospitalized with a fractured skull, multiple right-arm fractures, a concussion and head wounds closed with staples, and she told police she did not know the attacker.
  • Court records note Johnson also has a pending Hennepin County assault case alleging a random attack on a woman near Government Plaza last month.