Man found guilty of two counts of murder in drive-by shooting in Minneapolis

A Minneapolis man was convicted of two counts of murder in a drive-by shooting last year.

A Hennepin County jury found 27-year-old Tremaine Bucholz guilty of first-degree murder in the commission of a drive-by shooting and second-degree premeditated murder in the killing of Stevi Palacio.

On August 9, 2023, Minneapolis Police responded to the intersection of Thomas Avenue North and Oak Park Avenue for a report of shots fired and a woman screaming. Police found Palacio lying face down on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound to his back.

Authorities said life-saving measures were attempted, but she was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Officers searched the area and found video from a nearby doorbell that showed a van stopped at the corner of Thomas Avenue and Oak Park Avenue as Palacio walked toward the intersection. As she neared the corner, the van slowly drove toward her.

The van then pulled up next to the Palacio and a shot was fired out the passenger window, according to court documents. The woman began running toward the corner and the passenger in the van, later identified as Bucholz, fired seven more shots, one of which hit her in the back.

On Aug. 10, investigators found the van, registered to the driver of the vehicle, parked in an underground parking garage at his apartment complex in the 2200 block of Golden Valley Road.

Bucholz was arrested on September 5 and admitted that he knew the driver of the vehicle and the woman who was shot.

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“My thoughts today are with Stevi’s family,” said Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty. “No sentence will bring them back to them, but Mr. Bucholz will be held accountable for the senseless violence he committed, and a lengthy prison sentence will ensure no one else is harmed.”

Buchholz is scheduled to be sentenced on December 30th.