Murder in Lowertown

A beloved local artist is shot down in the street in a seemingly random attack.

Carrie Shobe Kwok, aged 66, was shot outside of her Lowertown St. Paul home while working on a mural art project. That occurred on Wednesday evening

Her suspected murderer, Seantrell Murdock, aged 29, was himself shot and killed by police in an armed confrontation outside of a home in Belle Plaine. That occurred on Thursday morning.

Court records indicate that Murdock lived in Belle Plaine.

Because of the seemingly random and unprovoked nature of the crime, the incident received widespread attention from local media. MPR has a tribute to Kwok, the artist.

The understated headline from WCCO TV,

Court records show warning signs in past of homicide suspect killed by St. Paul police

Seantrell Tyreese Murdock falls squarely into that category of “known to authorities.” A 2023 case in Scott County reveal an effort to have Mr. Murdock involuntarily committed.

The nature of these mental health cases mean that many underlying documents are under seal, but much can be inferred from the case record.

He was sued in Scott County court in January 2023 for civil commitment for mental health reasons. A petition was made at that time for the involuntary administration of antipsychotic medication. WCCO reports some detail,

In January 2023, Murdock’s mother brought him to the ER over mental health concerns.

During that time, Murdock physically and verbally assaulted staff and required “physical restraints and emergency medications,” records show. He indicated he was “scared of himself” and didn’t want to harm anyone but then stated he “wanted to kill others.”

Court documents say he posed a risk due to “mental illness ” and “chemical dependency.”

It’s not clear from the record, but Murdock may have spent some time in hospital as a result. In any event, the case was dismissed in August 2023.

Murdock was convicted of a felony, related to a 2017 theft case out of Lakeville. The charge was later reduced to a misdemeanor. His original felony sentence (2018) in the case was stayed and he was placed on probation for five years.

In an unrelated December 2017 incident, Murdock wall pulled over in Burnsville and found to have a stolen and loaded handgun on his person. It was deemed a misdemeanor case.

In 2019, he was found to have violated his Lakeville case probation. No change was made in his sentence, and he was released early from probation, in 2021.

In 2014, Murdock was convicted of 1st degree felony burglary arising from a 2013 case out of Cottage Grove. In that case, his two-year prison sentence was stayed. Instead, he was sentenced to six months in county jail and ten years of probation.

In 2015, after a probation violation, he was given 90 days of work release. More probation violations followed in 2016 and 2017 which resulted in a recommendation for mental health evaluation and treatment. His 2018 and 2019 probation violations resulted in 30 days and 10 days of work release, respectively. Eventually, probation was ended early in 2021. Over the years, a total of six (6) probation violation hearings were held.

As KSTP-TV notes,

According to court documents, Murdock was convicted of first-degree burglary in 2014. That conviction, a felony, meant Murdock wasn’t legally allowed to have guns. But even after becoming a felon, we found there’s a pattern of Murdock obtaining a gun.

It would appear that Mr. Murdock got the benefit of the doubt from the system, every inch of the way, right up until the very end.

We no longer lock up criminals. We no longer lock up the mentally ill. We don’t enforce the gun laws already on the books.

But we are surprised when bad things happen.