4 charged in deadly St. Paul shooting, victim's young kids in car
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Four people are facing charges in a St. Paul shooting, which occurred in a vehicle with two small children inside and ultimately left a man dead.
Charges filed in fatal St. Paul shooting
What we know: Prosecutors filed charges in connection to the Nov. 22 shooting that took place in a vehicle with two young children inside, and left 26-year-old Andre Lorenzo Mitchell dead.
Court records say 23-year-old Jasmine Rawls, 22-year-old Malik Rawls, 23-year-old Jarvis Sanders, and 25-year-old Steven Rawls Jr., are each facing several aiding and abetting charges for second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder including for drive-by shooting.
Details of the shooting
Dig deeper: The shooting happened on Nov. 22 near a St. Paul apartment building on the 600 block of Aurora Avenue.
According to charging documents, Mitchell was parked outside the building waiting to pick up the mother of his child when a driver in a dark SUV pulled up beside him and people inside started shooting.
A man in the passenger seat of Mitchell’s car opened his door and crawled out, with Mitchell following suit. Authorities later found Mitchell on the ground with several gunshot wounds, and he died on the way to the hospital, according to the complaint.
At the time of the shooting, Mitchell’s 2-month-old child and 5-year-old sister were in the back seat. The 5-year-old reportedly shielded the baby with her body during the shooting. While the baby was unharmed, the car seat had a bullet hole, and shattered glass was found throughout the vehicle.
Investors documented at least 13 bullet holes on the driver’s side of the vehicle and several shattered windows. Charging documents indicate there appeared to be five people inside the SUV during the shooting, and all but one fired handguns toward Mitchell’s vehicle.
Motive for the shooting
What we know: The complaint states that Jasmine Rawls had called police regarding a group of women allegedly making threats outside of her apartment after she asked a woman, who had been staying with her, to leave.
While police were still on scene, Jasmine Rawls reportedly told her brothers, Malik and Steven, about the threats. Following their conversation, Malik Rawls, along with Sanders, and two others, initially drove toward her apartment building. They then switched to Steven Rawls Jr's vehicle a few blocks away.
According to the complaint, the group drove to Jasmine Rawls’ apartment and "shot up a car full of people not involved in the earlier incident, killing [Mitchell]."
During an interview with investigators, Jasmine denied that she "called in a hit" or having knowledge that her brothers "planned on protecting her."
What's next: Steven Rawls Jr., Malik Rawls, and Jarvis Sanders appeared in court on Friday, where a judge set their bond at $10 million each. Jasmine Rawls' bond was set at $1 million, according to court records.