Trial Date Set For Man Charged After Rochester Man’s Murder

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Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A trial date has finally been scheduled for one of the men charged with the murder of a Rochester man last summer.

23-year-old Nautica Cox faces two counts of aiding and abetting second-degree murder, a single charge of aiding and abetting second-degree attempted murder, along with a charge involving the illegal possession of a firearm in connection with the fatal shooting of 28-year-old Todd Banks Jr. in the early hours of June 6, 2021, outside the entrance to the city parking ramp at the corner of 2nd Avenue and 1st Street Southwest. According to the criminal complaint, a Rochester Police Officer on patrol in the area witnessed the Minneapolis man firing a gun in the direction of a group of people gathered at the crime scene and chased Cox into a nearby alley, where he was arrested.

Jury selection for his trial is currently scheduled to begin on December 12th. Cox remains in the Olmsted County jail with his bail set at $2 million.

The second man charged in the case, 28-year-old Derek Days of South St. Paul, is accused of actually shooting and killing the Rochester man during an altercation that broke out while a group of people was engaged in a game of street dice. Another man was critically wounded in the shooting. Days is charged with three counts of second-degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm.

The Olmsted County Attorney's Office is seeking an aggravated sentence in his case because of Days' history of violent crimes. He was originally scheduled to stand trial in July, but that has now been pushed back into October. His bail is also set at $2 million.