St. Cloud police arrest man in connection with San Diego murder

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) – A former St. Cloud resident has been arrested in connection with a murder in San Diego. St. Cloud police arrested a 20-year-old Ta’Kari Benness on Thursday on a California Penal Code murder charge of personally discharging a firearm causing death. He was arrested at 10th Avenue and 2nd Street North in St. Cloud and was a passenger in a car at the time of his arrest.

The St. Cloud Police Department was contacted by the San Diego Police Department on October 3rd to assist in the murder investigation of an 18-year-old Albert Soto who was a sailor in the U.S. Navy stationed in San Diego. The investigation in San Diego revealed that Benness had ties to the St. Cloud area. On August 31, San Diego Police received reports of multiple shots fired in the area of ​​9th and F Streets. Once on scene, officers found Soto on the ground suffering from at least one gunshot wound. Soto was taken to the hospital but did not survive.

Investigators determined that Soto and his friends were involved in an altercation with a group of men at a nightclub. The argument spilled into the street, where Soto was eventually shot. San Diego police identified Benness and three other men through security footage, license plate readers and witness interviews. Benness is being held at the Stearns County Jail and the case remains under investigation.

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