St. Cloud Police Arrest Man In Connection To San Diego Murder

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- A former St. Cloud resident has been arrested in connection to a murder in San Diego. St. Cloud Police arrested 20-year-old Ta'Kari Benness on Thursday for murder under the California Penal Code for personal discharge of 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 requesting assistance in the murder investigation of 18-year-old Albert Soto who was a sailor in the U.S. Navy stationed in San Diego. San Diego's investigation revealed that Benness had ties to the St. Cloud area. On August 31st, San Diego Police received reports of multiple gunshots in the area of 9th Street and F Street. 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.

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Investigators determined Soto and his friends had been involved in an altercation with a group of men inside a nightclub. The argument spilled out onto 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 in the Stearns County Jail and the case remains under investigation.

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