St. Paul man sentenced for fatal shooting

ST. PAUL (AP) — A judge has sentenced a 29-year-old man to more than 30 years in prison for the shooting death of a 19-year-old man at St. Paulís Hmong Freedom Festival last year.

Nougai Xiong, of St. Paul, pleaded guilty earlier to aiding and abetting murder in the July 2018 death of Jacky Vue, of St. Paul. The Pioneer Press reports that defense attorney Adrianne McMahon said after Fridayís sentencing hearing that she will appeal. McMahon argued at trial that Xiong was not involved.

Xiongís cousin, Yang Xiong, of La Crosse, Wisconsin, was sentenced last month to seven years in prison for aiding an offender after the fact.

Court documents show that a person involved in the fight told police it occurred because the two cousins were members of a rival gang.

Man who shot, school bus driver sentenced

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota man who shot and wounded a school bus driver on a Minneapolis freeway during a snowstorm has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

Thirty-two-year-old Kenneth Lilly, of St. Paul, pleaded guilty in August to first-degree assault for the February attack that left Thomas Benson deaf in one ear and unable to continue working as a bus driver due to nerve damage in his hand. Lilly was sentenced Friday to 86 months.

Authorities say Benson was trying to merge onto the highway when his bus scraped Lilly’s car, although Benson was unaware. During a traffic jam, Lilly walked in front of the bus and fired five shots into the windshield, wounding Benson’s arm and grazing his head. A girl on the bus was not hurt.

Defense attorneys asked for three years, citing Lilly’s documented history of cognitive limitations.

Hennepin county to help fund rape kits tests

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — County officials in Minneapolis say they will pay for additional help to examine about 1,700 rape kits that have never been tested, some of which date back 30 years.

The city announced Friday it discovered the untested kits in July when the department was doing an inventory. Deputy Police Chief Erick Fors estimates it will likely take two years to get them tested.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman says the county will fund an additional DNA analyst position at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to help speed up the process. Freeman says victims who have questions should contact Vernona Boswell, the county’s sexual assault victim advocate.