South St. Paul man sentenced for 2021 Rochester murder

A South St. Paul man was sentenced on Monday morning for second-degree murder in connection with a 2021 fatal shooting in Rochester.

Derrick Timothy Days, 29, was sentenced to 426 months (35.5 years) in prison for the assault and murder of Todd Lorne Banks Jr., 28, in June 2021, according to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS sister station KAAL.

Another 28-year-old man from Rochester was critically injured in the shooting.

In June 2021, a group of men, including Days, got into a fight with Banks Jr. in downtown Rochester after five people were playing dice on the sidewalk, according to Rochester Police.

As shown in downtown Rochester security footage, Days fired nine rounds toward Banks Jr.

Days must serve 284 months of his sentence before being eligible for supervised release.

“We don’t really consider it a win, but it was I guess gratifying that we got an appropriate result. There’s just a tremendous amount of emotion and work that goes into a case,” Olmsted County District Attorney Mark Ostrem said.

Rochester Police say Nautica Cox, 23, of Minneapolis was also involved in the shooting. Cox is pleading not guilty to three counts of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and one count of possession of a firearm. His trial is set to begin in June.