Man gets 22 years for murder on St. Paul’s North End

A man was sentenced to 22 years in connection with a murder in St. Paul’s North End in May.

Martaviouis Deavionne Roby-English, 22, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in February.

Officers found 21-year-old Toumai Gaynor inside a crashed vehicle on May 30. He later died at the hospital.

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Investigators found 9mm shell casings and bullet holes in the vehicle. They also found a Glock and an extended magazine nearby.

An 18-year-old woman who was with Gaynor said Gaynor went to an address to pick something up, but as he tried to make a U-turn, a man in a hoodie ran up to the car and opened fire.

According to court documents, investigators found messages on the woman’s phone from Roby-English that indicated the two had been in a romantic relationship previously, and Roby-English repeatedly asked her to come over. In the hour leading up to the shooting, he sent her several messages that indicated he knew where she was and one that said, “Don’t make me walk ova there and shoot that (expletive) up.”

The woman confirmed their relationship during a later talk with investigators and said she planned to visit Roby-English after dropping Gaynor off at a friend’s house. She added that she didn’t initially know who was shooting at them but later realized it was Roby-English.

When officers talked to Roby-English, he called the woman with Gaynor his girlfriend and said she was supposed to bring him some money. However, according to the complaint, he said the woman then turned off her ability for him to see her phone location and he got upset. He claimed he could see the car she was sitting in from his home and ran up to it and knocked on the window, yelling for her to get out.

Roby-English said he then heard gunshots and pulled out a gun and shot back, claiming Gaynor shot first.