The Minnesota U.S. Attorney's office is dropping federal charges against a St. Paul man accused in a September carjacking that left two women dead and a child seriously injured. Edward Tiki Arrington, also known as Troy Mike Payton, remains jailed and will be prosecuted by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office instead.
Arrington, 46, allegedly fled police in a carjacked Volkswagen before crashing into another vehicle in Minneapolis, killing Marissa Casebolt and Liberty Borg, both 25. A 6-year-old boy who was riding with them suffered traumatic brain injuries.
Hennepin County prosecutors charged Arrington within hours of the incident. A federal criminal complaint followed the next day.
But in a joint motion with the defense filed Thursday, federal prosecutors agreed that it "serves the ends of justice" to have Hennepin County prosecutors take over the case.
The filing notes that Arrington is charged with 11 state-level felonies that carry decades in prison upon conviction under Minnesota sentencing guidelines. The motion to drop the federal charges means that Arrington would not be eligible for the death penalty.
“Mr. Arrington will immediately be taken into custody on an active arrest warrant for his pending state charges and he will not be released into the public,” defense attorney Kevin Riach and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Green write in the motion.
In 2022, then Minnesota U.S. Attorney Andy Luger pledged to federally prosecute all adult carjackers. But a wave of staff resignations since Luger's departure last year has decimated the ranks of experienced assistant U.S. attorneys.
