Charges: Father encouraged son to 'retaliate' before fatal shooting of 12-year-old London Bean

Authorities say the father of the man charged with fatally shooting 12-year-old London Michael Bean drove his adult son to the scene, and may have even encouraged him to "retaliate" in response to an ongoing feud.

Letterance D. Grady, 40, is charged in Hennepin County with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of aiding an offender in connection to Bean's Sept. 8 death. Bean was outside on the 800 block of Aldrich Avenue North that afternoon, scuffling with another child, when prosecutors say 18-year-old Jeremiah Grady popped out from behind a vehicle and shot Bean twice.

Jeremiah Grady, according to charges, is the older brother of the boy with whom Bean was fighting.

Read more: After weeks on the run, suspect in 12-year-old London Bean's killing is now in custody

Prosecutors now say Jeremiah's father Letterance played an integral role in the killing. They say Letterance was aware of an ongoing feud involving Jeremiah's siblings. The charges also allege Jeremiah and a sibling told police that, on the day of Bean's killing, Letterance encouraged them to "retaliate" against the bullying from this other family by "shooting."

Letterance, the charges say, denied any involvement in Bean's death for weeks. But investigators say they obtained video of him driving Jeremiah to and from the scene, as well as footage of him running to a nearby parking lot at the time of the killing.

Letterance was arrested Nov. 4, and admitted to portions of prosecutors' account, the charges state. He said he drove Jeremiah to the front of the residence on Aldrich Avenue, and that he'd seen mostly women and children out front. He also admitted to then driving to the parking lot, seeing Jeremiah run to the front of the house, then hearing shots — at which point they fled, the charges state.

Letterance denied, however, telling Jeremiah to shoot. He made his first court appearance Monday, and has an omnibus hearing scheduled for Dec. 3.

Bean was a sixth-grader at Sojourner Truth Academy. Family described him as "a very goofy, energetic boy" who "turned every negative situation positive."