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The 16-year-old accused of shooting and killing Opoka James Bot Lob Nathanael, 27, in February has been certified to stand trial as an adult.

Phillip Tyrek Gills was in Mower County District Court on Friday where he faces second degree murder and second degree attempted murder, both with intent but not premeditated. 

He has been ordered held on $2 million bail, bond with no conditions and $1 million with conditions.

His next court appearance will be on July 7 an initial appearance.

According to court documents filed this week, Judge Jeffrey Kritzer ruled that the seriousness of the charges warranted a safety concern to the public and that previous arguments of earlier trauma in Gills’ life, including the murder of his sister, did not reduce the culpability in committing the alleged crimes, finding that there was no evidence of that being the case.

In those filed documents, Gills had claimed that Nathanael and the passenger were going to take him into the country and kill him and that there was a gun in the center console. 

In Kritzer’s filing, he said that greater weight was to be put on the seriousness of the alleged offenses and Gills’ prior record of delinquency and that they represent extremes.

He also noted that the allegations themselves demonstrate “a greater threat to public safety than many intentional murders and attempted murders.”

The filing goes on to say that Gills’ claims of self-defense are matters to be decided at a trial and not by the court at this time.

Nathanael was shot and killed at around 1:35 p.m. on Feb. 15 in the area of Fifth Avenue NW and 11th Street NW. Responding officers discovered Nathanael in the front seat of a black Chevrolet Traverse. He was pronounced dead a short while later.

A second person in the vehicle had also been shot twice and was taken to Mayo Clinic Health System-Austin in a private vehicle before being flown to St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester.

An autopsy determined that Nathanael had been shot seven times in the back.  

In an interview with the second victim, the male described picking up the victim and said that while he didn’t know the teen, Nathanael did. He also said there was no warning that the teen would start shooting before hearing multiple gunshots.  

He also said that he was not aware of any feud between the two, but believed him to be the target as he was shot first.  

The complaint goes on to say that obtained video from shortly before the shooting appeared to show the vehicle pull up to the teen’s house on Fifth Avenue NW. It allegedly shows Nathanael walk up to the house and return two minutes later. The teen then walks up to the vehicle and gets into the back seat of the vehicle.  

The video was taken just six blocks away from where the shooting took place.