Howard Lake Shooting Suspect Potentially Facing 1st Degree Murder Charge

(KNSI) – The suspect in this week’s Howard Lake shooting made his first court appearance Wednesday.

Kevin Zelaya Asencio is facing a count of 2nd-degree murder with intent, a felony with a maximum sentence of 40 years behind bars. He could be looking at a charge of 1st-degree premeditated murder. Wright County Attorney Brian Lutes says he will evaluate the case for a potential presentation to a grand jury.

According to the criminal complaint, Zelaya Asencio came to suspect that his wife was having an affair with a coworker. All three were employed at Dura Supreme Cabinetry. When Zelaya Asencio’s wife told him that she wanted to end their marriage on Monday, he left work at about 10:00 a.m., returned to their Glencoe apartment to retrieve an AR-15, and waited for her and the victim, Adrian Medina, to come out for their lunch break.

Medina and the wife ate together in the front seat of Medina’s truck. Zelaya Asencio got into the rear passenger seat and ordered Medina to leave the vehicle. When Medina refused, Zelaya Asencio is accused of firing the AR-15 three times, striking Medina in the head. The shooting happened at 12:06 p.m. Zelaya Asencio is 23 years old and Medina was only 20.

The complaint goes on to say Zelaya Asencio fled the scene. He was picked up in nearby Waverly during a traffic stop. The AR-15 was found in Zelaya Asencio’s vehicle by officers. He was taken into custody without incident.

Bail for Zelaya Asencio is set at $5 million without conditions or $2 million with them. Some of the potential stipulations include no contact orders with Medina’s family or his wife, turning in a passport that would allow him to leave the country, no unapproved travel out of state, and no gun possession.

___