4 charged in St. Paul drive-by shooting allegedly targeted wrong car, killing innocent father with young kids in tow

4 charged in St. Paul drive-by shooting allegedly targeted wrong car, killing innocent father with young kids in tow

4 charged in St. Paul drive-by shooting allegedly targeted wrong car, killing innocent father with young kids in tow

Charges have been filed against four people accused of coordinating a shooting in St. Paul on the wrong target, killing a father and nearly injuring two young children who were in the same car.

Court documents show 23-year-old Jasmine Rawls, 22-year-old Malik Rawls, 25-year-old Steven Rawls Jr. and 23-year-old Jarvis Sanders each face two counts of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and six counts of attempted second-degree murder in connection with the Nov. 22 drive-by shooting near the Rondo Community Library.

According to a criminal complaint, 26-year-old Andre Lorenzo Mitchell was shot to death on Nov. 22 while he was waiting inside a Mazda sedan with his 2-month-old child, 5-year-old sister and another 26-year-old man. Despite officers finding at least 13 bullet holes in the vehicle parked near the intersection of Aurora Avenue and Dale Street, only Mitchell was harmed. Investigators also found a bullet hole in the baby’s car seat, which was full of broken glass.

The other man inside the car told police he and Mitchell were there to pick up the mother of Mitchell’s child when she got off from work when a black SUV pulled up and several people inside started shooting. The 5-year-old child said she was in the back seat with the 2-month-old when the shots were fired and that she covered the baby with her body while broken glass from the car windows rained down on them.

Police had been in the area about 20 minutes before the shooting because Jasmine Rawls had reported a disturbance and said a group of armed women associated with the father of her child had come to her door and were threatening her.

It turned out that Jasmine Rawls had been letting the cousin of the father of her child stay with her but she kicked her out over an argument about a phone charger. The cousin’s mother brought two other women — one of whom had a gun and was licensed to carry — over to help move the cousin out. One of the women was confrontational with Jasmine Rawls, telling her she would be “outside” and ready to fight when Jasmine Rawls left her home.

Two Wright County sheriff’s deputies who happened to be in an unmarked vehicle on the block saw four people get out of a white sedan and into a black SUV right before the shooting started. The deputies drove away when they heard gunfire because they thought they were being shot at, the complaint states.

Using surveillance video, investigators identified the suspect SUV as a Mitsubishi Outlander registered to Steven Rawls Jr., Jasmine Rawls’ older brother. Video of the shooting shows five people inside the SUV, and all but a front-seat passenger who ducked down were firing at the Mazda.

Phone location data placed Steven Rawls Jr. and Malik Rawls — another sibling of Jasmine Rawls at the scene of the shooting. One of the shooters inside the Mitsubishi was wearing a distinctive facemask and a camouflage jacket, and Sanders appeared to be wearing matching items in a video he posted to Facebook on Dec. 1.

In an interview with police, Sanders said he had moved to Minnesota from Gary, Indiana, to get a “fresh start” and knows Jasmine and Malik Rawls, the complaint states. Sanders had previously been charged in a murder case in Indiana, but prosecutors dropped the case when a witness died.

Call records indicated that Jasmine Rawls had spoken with Malik Rawls while police were at her apartment responding to the initial call of a disturbance. Investigators then believe another person drove Malik Rawls, Sanders and two others from Bloomington in the white sedan to Steven Rawls Jr. in St. Paul.

In an interview with police, the driver of the white sedan said he drove the group because Malik Rawls said “a group of guys” was at his sister’s house and one person had a gun. On the drive over, he overheard Malik Rawls having a phone conversation with a woman — either with his mother or sister — who alluded to people still being at the apartment. Malik Rawls allegedly asked, “How many is it? Did only one have the gun? Is it more people that have guns?”

Jasmine Rawls denied calling in a hit but said she had sent her brothers screenshots of threats she had received after kicking the woman out from her apartment. When asked about the phone call to her brother Malik, she said she was arranging a ride for her mother and that she had no knowledge they were coming to “protect her.”

Jasmine Rawls did not recognize Mitchell from a photo, and investigators noted in the complaint that Mitchell was not from the area and did not have any known enemies. Officers investigating the shooting scene also identified the Jeep connected to the women involved in the disturbance call was parked further up the block from Jasmine Rawls’ apartment.

“The group drove to Jasmine Rawls’ apartment building and shot up a car full of people not involved in the earlier incident,” the complaint alleges.

All four defendants made their first court appearances Friday morning. They remain in custody at the Ramsey County Jail.