In a tragic incident in St. Paul, MN a 23-year-old man was fatally shot during an attempted robbery by a teenager amid a marijuana transaction, according to charges filed by prosecutors on Tuesday.
The victim, identified as Devon A. Johnson, lost his life last month. He was discovered by police in a car as his friend was rushing him to a hospital for emergency care.
Deshawn A. Houston, 17, from Eagan, has been charged with Johnson’s murder and the attempted murder of Johnson’s friend, as stated in the charging documents from the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office.
On the night of March 14 around 11 p.m., emergency services received multiple calls from Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood reporting gunshots, the sound of crashing vehicles, and several individuals fleeing the scene.
Near Wilson Parkway at the Wilson Hi-Rise parking lot, responding officers found broken glass and two vehicles with significant front-end damage. They assessed that another vehicle involved had fled the scene.
Approximately a mile away, law enforcement noticed a Jeep driving erratically with similar damage. Upon stopping the vehicle, the driver revealed his friend had been shot and was in the backseat, leading to immediate medical intervention by the officers.
Despite efforts by St. Paul fire medics to save him, Johnson was declared dead at the scene from a chest gunshot wound, as confirmed by an autopsy.
Inside the Jeep, authorities discovered suspected marijuana, a digital scale, and $346 in cash.
Johnson’s friend, initially reluctant to share details, later disclosed to the police that he had been set up for a robbery through Facebook Messenger. The buyer had brought Houston, who was unknown to them, to the meeting.
The friend recounted that during their discussion about the marijuana sale, Houston brandished a firearm and demanded the drugs. A struggle ensued as Houston aimed the gun at Johnson, who was driving at the time. The gun discharged as Johnson attempted to drive away, leading to the subsequent crash.
After the incident, the purported buyer expressed remorse, stating he had been transferring payment via CashApp and was unaware of Houston’s intent to rob.
Another witness implicated the buyer, Houston, and others in planning the robbery, describing the buyer as extremely distressed after the incident. Houston did not return to the location where they had been staying.
Following an investigation, Houston and another individual were arrested on March 29 in St. Cloud. Officers seized multiple cellphones and a firearm different from the one used in the shooting.
While Houston and his associate have withheld substantial information from the police, Houston remains detained and faces charges including intentional and unintentional second-degree murder, and two counts of attempted second-degree murder. There are plans to try Houston as an adult, according to the prosecutors.
Johnson, remembered by his mother as a devoted father and a former athlete at Minneapolis’ Patrick Henry High School, was employed as a personal care attendant at the time of his death.
