Rochester Man Pleads Guilty in 2020 Murder Case

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Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)  - A last-minute plea agreement has canceled plans for a murder trial in Olmsted County Court next month.

23-year-old Ty Jhuan Anderson today entered guilty pleas to charges of second-degree unintentional murder, first-degree assault, and illegal possession of a firearm. The Rochester man was originally charged with second-degree intentional murder, and second-degree attempted murder, along with the weapons charge in connection with a shooting in the fall of 2020 that left one man dead and another in critical condition.

The criminal complaint alleged Anderson opened fire and fatally shot 18-year-old Mikayal Gordon of Rochester and critically wounded a 20-year-old man during a confrontation in a hallway at the Village of Essex Apartment Complex on October 30, 2020. A witness to the shooting identified Anderson as the shooter.

Court documents also indicated Anderson was in a vehicle that was stopped by Rochester police shortly after the shooting was reported and the officer involved with the traffic stop described Anderson as "belligerent and appeared to be intoxicated." The evidence also includes Snapchat videos taken at a party in the apartment complex showing Anderson drinking heavily and brandishing a pistol that appeared to be identical to a pistol that investigators found outside the apartment building.