20-year-old found guilty on 10 charges in connection with fatal 2021 Woodbury grad party shootout

Morgan Reddekopp KSTP

Courtesy of Washington County Jail

A 20-year-old Oakdale man was found guilty Friday on 10 charges in connection with a fatal shootout at a Woodbury graduation party in 2021.

Xavier Le’Drew Hudson was found guilty Friday after a nine-day trial, according to a news release from Washington County Attorney’s Office.

He was found guilty of:

Two counts of aiding and abetting second-degree murder
Four counts of second-degree assault
Four counts of aiding and abetting second-degree assault

As previously reported, Hudson had been accused of partaking in a shootout that killed 14-year-old Demaris Hobbs-Ekdahl on June 5, 2021.

He was 17 at the time of the shootout but was later certified to be prosecuted as an adult.

A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.

According to court documents, Hudson was part of a group that allegedly confronted Demaris, his brother, and others with guns at a graduation party in Woodbury on June 5, 2021. After the confrontation, Demaris and his brother left the party with their friends and called their stepfather, Keith Dawson.

Dawson encouraged the boys to return to the party with him to confront the group. He drove his SUV and the boys followed in a car.

When they arrived at the party, Dawson fired several shots and drove away. The car Demaris was in followed, but Hudson’s group fired 40 shots in their direction, court documents said.

One of the bullets hit Demaris. He died at the hospital from blood loss due to the gunshot wound.

Dawson, 37, pleaded guilty to drive-by shooting, illegal possession of a firearm and second-degree assault. He is serving a seven-year sentence.

Jaden Lavan Townsend, 21, who was in the same group as Hudson, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault. He was sentenced to three years in prison with credit for 371 days already served.

Enrique Lucio Davila, 26, who was also in Hudson’s group, has a hearing scheduled for Oct. 2.