Man Pleads Guilty to Role in 2022 St. Cloud Killing, Agrees to Testify Against Co-Suspect

(KNSI) – A man has admitted to his role in a 2022 killing in St. Cloud.

On May 24th of that year, officers were called to the 1200-block of 10th Avenue South for a man shot in the head. First responders rushed 39-year-old Michael Batsche to CentraCare-St. Cloud Hospital, where he died.

According to the criminal complaint, security camera footage from the home showed Paul Erving Coleman and another man standing next to the victim’s garage with something in their hands minutes before 911 calls for gunshots in the area came into dispatch. Officials say nine rounds were fired.

Investigators located additional camera footage showing an SUV owned by Coleman in the alley behind the victim’s home at the time of the shooting. Coleman was arrested two days later in St. Cloud. A second suspect was taken into custody in Chicago a short time later.

On Thursday, the 54-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting second-degree murder. A charge of first-degree murder will be dismissed. The deal calls for Coleman to serve 16 years in prison and testify against the other suspect. A sentencing date wasn’t immediately set.

Another man, Alphonso Dale Cotto (bottom), allegedly feuded with the victim over an unpaid debt. Cotto is charged with 1st-degree murder. If the 44-year-old is convicted, he faces life in prison. Cotto’s case is still making its way through the courts. He is scheduled to be in court for a hearing next week and to go on trial in April.