A St. Michael man who pleaded guilty in May to second-degree murder in the shooting of a 42-year-old Annandale man who was shot and killed in a group robbery has started his prison sentence.
Gray David Soltis, 23, St. Michael, was sentenced June 18, 2014 to 360 months (30 years) by Wright County Judge Stephen Halsey on June 18, 2014 in his role in the robbery-gone-wrong, which took place on a September weekend last year.
According to court records, Soltis pleaded guilty to being the man who pulled the trigger and shot one time, killing Kyle L. Greene, 42, t in the early hours of Sept. 28, 2013 in the detached garage of a residence at 165 Poplar Ave. S in Annandale.
Soltis was one of a group of people eventually arrested and charged in the attempted robbery and eventual murder.
Court documents say Soltis and Preseton Jordan Saengchanthalath, 19, who is also facing a murder charge, broke into Green’es detached garage and encountered Greene. Saengchanthalath engaged Greene in a fight, and Soltis pulled a gun and shot the 42-year-old Annandale man when he thought he might have reached for a weapon, according to the Wright County Attorney’s Office and prosecutor Brian Lutes.
Also involved in the melee were Tyler James Fisher, 20, who pleaded guity to second-degree murder and served as the get-away driver. Samara Leigh Juhl, 20, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting aggrevated robbery.
Fisher was sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison, while Juhl was sentenced to four years. Both were the maximum sentences according to state guidelines.
Juhl, the attorney’s report states, wanted to rob Greene because he had supplied her with meth in the past.
Soltis could have been indicted by a grand jury for first-degree murder, which would have carried a life sentence without parole.
Osayame Emanual Igho-Osagie, 21, is also charged in the robbery. Sentences are pending for both Saengchanthalath and Igho-Osagie.
Soltis led police on a high-speed chase when he was approached by a Wright County Deputy last October. The deputy, who found Soltis in Albertville, noticed the get-away car. The chase reached speeds of over 100 mph before Soltis ran over State Patrol-placed ‘stop sticks’ on the freeway.(Audio link by Police Clips).
Soltis’ criminal history, mostly in Wright County, includes convictions for assault, domestic assault, theft and drug possession.