34-year-old enters guilty plea for attempted murder in January shooting

A 34-year-old Eden Prairie man entered a guilty plea on Tuesday to his role in a shooting in January in Minneapolis.

According to court documents, Xavier Cordarius Willis entered a guilty plea for attempted second-degree murder. As part of the plea deal, a count of first-degree assault connected with the shooting will be dismissed and he is expected to be sentenced to nearly 17 years (203 months) in prison. Willis also has a case against him for illegal firearm possession, which will also be dismissed as part of the plea deal.

RELATED: Man charged with trying to kill person hours after argument in Minneapolis

As previously reported, Minneapolis officers were called to a shooting at an apartment on the 2000 block of 21st Avenue South on the afternoon of Jan. 13. While en route, they learned that the victim crashed his vehicle outside a nearby fire station.

The victim was rushed to the hospital and underwent emergency surgery — doctors didn’t expect him to survive.

Police had spoken with the victim earlier that morning after he filed a police report, saying that Willis pulled a gun on him during an argument.

Later that day, the victim was parked outside the apartment building speaking with his girlfriend, who is also the mother of his child, when Willis walked in front of the vehicle and shot through the windshield, hitting the victim in the chest, according to court documents.

The entire incident was caught on surveillance video.

Court documents state that the victim went upstairs after the shooting to “say goodbye to his child” before trying to drive himself to the hospital and ultimately crashing outside the fire station.

Willis later admitted to shooting the victim, and officers found a .40-caliber ammunition and a handgun owner’s manual in his home.