Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena announced that Casimir Anthony Semlak, age 18 of St. Paul, was certified for adult court prosecution in connection with the May 8, 2022, fatal shooting in South St. Paul of 17-year-old Anthony John Skelley. A complaint was filed in adult court charging* Semlak with three counts of Murder in the Second Degree (With Intent/Not Premeditated; Drive-By Shooting; and Without Intent/While Committing a Felony).
The following is a brief summary of the allegations contained in the criminal complaint:
On May 8, 2022, at approximately 10:42 p.m., South St. Paul police officers were dispatched to a residential area on a report of gunshots. Officers arriving at the scene located an unresponsive male in the street. The male had apparent gunshot wounds to his head, torso and shoulder, was not breathing, and had no pulse. He was identified as 17-year-old Anthony Skelley (“the victim”). Officers found a BB gun in the victim’s hand. Shell casings from a 9mm firearm were located near the victim; and a cell phone and small bag of marijuana were located in the street near the victim. Officers attempted CPR, but responding medics pronounced the victim deceased.
Neighbors reported hearing gunshots and seeing a small white or silver 4-door vehicle with a damaged right taillight leaving the area at a high rate of speed. Several Ring videos showed portions of the incident and the described vehicle in front of the victim’s residence. A male who had been inside the victim’s residence at the time of the shooting told officers that he heard the victim on the phone saying something to the effect of “ok, I’m coming out.” The victim then walked outside and shortly thereafter the male heard shots.
A search was conducted of the victim’s cell phone during which the last number called on the victim’s cell phone was located. The last number called was subsequently linked to Casimir Semlak. Further investigation showed a text string between the victim and Semlak concerning the sale of marijuana. In this text string, the victim provided the address of his residence to Semlak. The last text received on the victim’s phone from Semlak was “here”. Through investigation, officers found that the buyer’s cell phone number (i.e., Semlak) associated with the phone application “Cash App” and learned that the user information came back to a profile of “Ky Semlak.” Officers located a profile for “Casimir Semlak” in St. Paul. Semlak was located and placed under arrest. At the time of his arrest, Semlak had in his possession a Springfield 9mm Hellcat handgun with an inserted magazine containing several bullets. The bullets in the magazine were the same brand as the shell casing found at the scene of the shooting. Semlak also possessed the cell phone that exchanged messages with the victim which has been submitted to the Dakota County Electronic Crimes Unit for further examination.
Semlak made his first appearance today. Bail in the amount of $1,000,000 ($750,000 with conditions) was set by Judge Leslie Metzen. His next court appearance is set for January 26, 2023, at 1:30 p.m. in Hastings.
If you have questions, contact Kathy Keena at 651-438-4438.
*Criminal charges are not evidence of guilt. A defendant/suspect is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.