A St. Louis County grand jury has indicted a Duluth man on a charge of first-degree, premeditated murder.
Terrance Leon Callender, 48, was previously charged with one count of second-degree murder for the July 29 shooting death of James Alton Peterson. Callender was being held in the St. Louis County Jail on $500,000 bail for that charge.
The grand jury returned the first-degree murder indictment on Wednesday, and Callender was arraigned on the charge this morning in St. Louis County District Court in Duluth.
Prosecutor James Nephew asked Judge Gerald C. Martin to increase Callender's bail to $750,000. Defense attorney Laura Zimm asked the judge to leave bail at $500,000, noting that Callender has been unable to raise that amount. Callender has been in the St. Louis County Jail since he was first arrested. Martin left bail at $500,000. Callender's next court appearance will be Tuesday. At the state's request, Martin dismissed the original file charging him with second-degree murder.
Nephew and Zimm both declined to comment on the case after today's hearing.
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According to original criminal complaint against Callender, an argument over $20 and a slap led to the fatal shooting of Peterson -- Callender's next-door neighbor -- outside the Hillside Laundry, 103 W. Fourth St., shortly before 8:30 p.m. July 29.
Callender was arrested without incident about two hours later in the vicinity of Fourth Street and Fourth Avenue East. The .38 Special revolver believed to be used in the shooting was recovered later.
According to the complaint, Callender talked to two people near Second Avenue East and First Street and admitted to killing someone at the laundromat.
Callender "further said that he had gotten into a silly argument with the victim over $20 and the victim had slapped him," the complaint said. "The defendant said that he went to his apartment at 107 W. Fourth St., retrieved a handgun, went back downstairs, returned to the laundromat and shot the victim."
The medical examiner determined that Peterson had been shot three times. The first shot struck Peterson in the head, perforating his carotid artery. The next two shots passed through his lungs.
"The medical examiner said that the first shot to the face would have put the victim on the ground, and it was highly unlikely that he could have survived that first shot even with immediate medical attention," the criminal complaint said.
Peterson was caretaker of Hillside Laundry. He also worked for Senior Friend Home Care in Duluth, where he made daily visits with clients requiring in-home assistance. His murder was Duluth's second of the year.
