24-year-old charged in connection with drive-by shooting that killed pregnant mother of 3

A St. Paul man was charged Friday in connection with the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Gabriella Dehoyos, who was pregnant. She was shot on Monday and died Tuesday, according to a criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court.

Paul Dwayne Harris, 24, faces charges of second-degree murder, second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and illegally possessing a firearm.

A criminal complaint states that around 5 p.m. on Monday, an SUV pulled up to the emergency room entrance at Regions Hospital. There was a bullet hole in the rear passenger-side window, and Dehoyos was unconscious in the vehicle with a gunshot wound to her head. Also in the car were her three small children.

At the hospital, Dehoyos’ boyfriend told police that he was driving the SUV on St. Anthony Avenue and was about to turn onto Marion St. when a silver Ford sedan pulled up behind him and moved to the passenger side of the vehicle. The man looked over and saw the driver of the sedan, later identified as Harris, pointing a handgun in his direction.

The man recognized Harris and identified him by his street name, “PAULYP,” according to the complaint. When he saw Harris point a gun at him, the man said he ducked and turned onto Marion St. He heard the rear passenger window shatter from the gunshot.

Officers recovered a shell casing at the scene of the shooting, and prosecutors say video from a Minnesota Department of Transportation camera corroborated Dehoyos’ boyfriend’s account of the shooting.

Officers used Facebook photos to identify Harris as “PAULYP,” and a recent post showed him holding a red gun. Dehoyos’ boyfriend said that the gun Harris pointed at him had a red design on it.

Harris and his girlfriend were arrested Thursday and were questioned about the shooting.

Additionally, Harris was convicted for a burglary as a juvenile in 2018 and is thus ineligible to possess a firearm. He has been convicted twice for illegally having a firearm and was on supervised release from his executed 60-month prison sentence in connection to these convictions.