St. Paul man charged in fatal shooting in Eagan
A St. Paul man has been charged with murder in connection to a fatal shooting in Eagan on Monday.
According to the Dakota County Attorney’s Office, 29-year-old Robert Lee Baker is charged with second-degree murder and posession of a firearm by an ineligible person in connection to the killing of 29-year-old Maurice Antonio Anderson, of Minneapolis.
A criminal complaint states that officers were called on a report of shots fired at a hotel in Eagan at about 9 p.m. on Monday. One of the callers said a man was lying on the ground outside the hotel while another caller reported a red car quickly leaving the area.
Officers responded and found Anderson lying on the ground. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
A short time later, officers found a vehicle matching the description of the vehicle seen leaving the area at a high rate of speed. Officers conducted a traffic stop and found Baker in the front passenger seat. Baker and the driver were both arrested.
1 dead, 2 in custody after Eagan shooting
The driver told police that she and Baker had gone to a hotel to meet up with a friend, but after the friend got into the back seat of the car, two men with handguns got into the back seat and told them to drive. According to the complaint, the driver claimed she drove to an adjacent hotel parking lot, pulled over and the men then got out of the car and robbed her and Baker.
The complaint states the driver then said she thought Baker got out of the car right before she heard shooting. After the shots, Baker jumped back into the car and they drove away.
Baker confirmed the first half of the driver’s statement to police but said he got out of the car to chase after the suspects who’d robbed them and yelled at them to give him back his stuff. Baker said one of the men then turned and pointed a gun at him so he shot at the suspect, according to the complaint. Baker later told police both men turned and pointed guns at him and so he fired his gun at one of them but didn’t recall how many times he fired.
Officers didn’t find a gun near Anderson’s body but located 16 discharged cartridge casings consistent with the .40 caliber gun Baker admitted to using. No other casings were found at the scene. After executing a search warrant, officers found a .40 caliber gun and a BB gun in Baker’s vehicle. Baker later told police that after he shot Anderson he took back the driver’s phone and the gun Anderson used in the robbery.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office determined Anderson was shot 11 times, including once in the head.
Baker made his first court appearance Thursday. His bail was set at $1.5 million without conditions or $1 million with conditions.
His next court appearance is set for Nov. 25.