Second Suspect in 2022 St. Cloud Homicide Takes Alford Plea

(KNSI) – The second suspect connected to a 2022 homicide in St. Cloud has reached a plea deal with prosecutors.

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 Alphonso Dale Cotto (top) and another man, Paul Erving Coleman, 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 that led them to an SUV owned by Coleman. Two days later, they arrested him in St. Cloud. A short time later, Cotto was taken into custody in Chicago.

Cotto made an Alford plea to one count of second-degree murder. An Alford plea means a suspect doesn’t admit guilt but pleads guilty because they agree the evidence against them would result in a conviction by a jury. As part of the deal, a charge of first-degree murder and possession of ammo/firearm by a convicted felon will be dropped.

The deal calls for the 44-year-old to spend 22 years and nine months in prison. He will be given credit for time served since his arrest. Cotto is scheduled to be sentenced on May 6th.

In February, Coleman pleaded guilty to his role and is set to be sentenced to 16 years in prison on May 23rd.

Investigators say the two men killed the victim over an unpaid debt.