Man sentenced to 15 years for 2019 homicide in St. Paul

A 29-year-old man was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison for a murder committed in 2019 in St. Paul.

Court records show that Devante Lattrele Jennings has credit for 932 days, or around 2.5 years, already served.

Jennings was initially charged with two counts of second-degree murder. He pleaded guilty to one of the counts in May in exchange for the other count to be dismissed.

As previously reported, St. Paul officers were called to Johnny Baby’s on University Avenue around 2 a.m. on May 4, 2019 on a report of a shooting.

There, they found a 33-year-old man, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Witnesses told police that the victim had been by a silver sedan and appeared to be trying to get in the back seat when he was shot.

Officers later executed a search warrant on the vehicle and found a cigarette butt with DNA that matched Jennings, court documents state. He was arrested, but he said he didn’t know the victim and was at his brother’s home at the time of the shooting.

In November of 2022, forensics services personnel determined that a fingerprint found in the vehicle matched Jennings.

In a later interview with investigators, Jennings was shown surveillance photos of himself at the bar. Court documents state he didn’t deny it was him in the photos.