The 19 year old has been charged with the murder of Mark Franklin in St. Paul.

Ramsey County Jail

The victim of a homicide in St. Paul on Friday was shot in the face after earlier intervening in a domestic assault involving the suspected shooter.

According to charges released on Monday, Theotis Thomas, 19, of St. Paul, shot and killed 21-year-old Mark Franklin after he intervened in an argument he was having with the mother of his children.

Thomas was allegedly arguing with his teenage girlfriend at a property on the 600 block of Elfelt Street in St. Paul in the early hours of Friday morning, and at one point put his hands around his girlfriend's neck.

It's at this point that Franklin intervened, as he "physically grabbed and slammed Thomas on a bed," the charging documents say.

Thomas was described as being upset that Franklin got involved and put his hands on him, and said something about returning with a gun before leaving.

The girlfriend let Thomas back in the house about 30 minutes later after he knocked on the door, identified himself and apparently "sounded calm."

As he came in, Thomas had his hand in his pocket and several times asked "Where's that n-----?"

His girlfriend tried to pull him back as he went upstairs, eventually entering the room where Franklin was, and fired a shot that went into the wall. Franklin then tried to grab the gun before a second shot went off, which hit Franklin in the left eye.

Franklin died at Regions Hospital at 6:40 a.m., with Thomas handing himself in to police later on Friday, claiming he didn't remember anything from the morning as he was "too drunk and stoned."

He had previously been banned from possessing a gun after an incident in which he tried to steal a woman's purse in a store, and used a knife to slash the back of a man who tried to stop him from fleeing.

Thomas has been charged with 2nd-degree murder.