Jury starts deliberating in trial of man charged in Truck Park bar shooting

Jurors have begun deliberating in the case of a man charged in the deadly mass shooting at a St. Paul bar in 2021.

Wednesday morning, prosecutors continued cross-examination of 30-year-old Devondre Trevon Phillips. His testimony began Tuesday in Ramsey County court.

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Phillips is charged with eight counts of attempted second-degree murder in connection to the Oct. 10, 2021, shooting at Truck Park.

Marquisha Wiley, 27, was killed in the shooting and more than a dozen other people were hurt.

Tuesday, Phillips detailed the many prior altercations he had that summer with Terry Brown — who is charged with one count of second-degree murder and four counts of second-degree attempted murder and is set to go on trial starting April 3 — as well as Brown’s friends. He and his attorney also tried to paint Brown and his friends as the aggressors, saying they offered him no choice but to fire shots inside the bar that night.

“I wish I could’ve done something different,” Phillips said Tuesday, adding, “I know that if I didn’t fire when I did, I’d be dead. It’s not a question, but I do feel bad” about injuring others.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, noted that Phillips didn’t contact the police after any of the prior altercations, didn’t ask for help before the shooting and had plenty of other options instead of opening fire.

When questioning continued shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday, Phillips admitted “it’s highly likely” he shot the eight people he’s charged with shooting but wouldn’t agree that any evidence showed he definitely shot anyone. He also disputed what several clips of evidence seemed to show.

“The way I see it is you guys are seeing what you choose to see,” Phillips told the prosecutor Wednesday morning.

Some of his responses even drew some audible reactions from family members of the victims who were seated in the courtroom.

Closing arguments were presented Wednesday afternoon, with prosecutors painting Phillips as living by his own set of rules — “Devondre’s rules” — than everyone else instead of being a reasonable person.

“We are all required to live by the same rules. That doesn’t mean everyone does … This isn’t the wild west,” Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Treye Kettwick told jurors.

Kettwick added that Phillips didn’t report any of the prior incidents to police, made no attempt to leave or retreat and, therefore, shouldn’t be able to claim self-defense.

“He knows they’re going to ‘press up on him.’ … Leave, get outta there, don’t let 14 people get shot because you wanna handle it yourself,” Kettwick said in his closing argument. “But that’s not Devondre’s rules.”

Phillips’ attorney, John Lesch, on the other hand, fought back against that notion and sowed doubt that Phillips intended to shoot anyone.

“In order to get a conviction in the case, they have to show that he’s the aggressor,” Lesch told jurors. He added that there can only be one aggressor and said the state will “flip-flop” and paint Brown as the aggressor at his trial in April.

Lesch also reiterated that Phillips was a victim himself and was left no other choice because of the actions of Brown and his friends.

“You don’t need someone running at you with a knife to stab you to have a reasonable claim to self-defense,” Lesch said.

Jurors were handed the case shortly before 5 p.m. and, because they are sequestered, will deliberate until around 9 p.m. Wednesday before restarting, if necessary, Thursday morning.