Teen sentenced as an adult for St. Paul drug deal deadly shooting
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - A teen charged as a juvenile for a deadly shooting during a drug deal in St. Paul earlier this year has been sentenced as an adult for the murder.
Court documents show Deshawn Houston, now 18, was sentenced to 12.5 years behind bars for the shooting in the Dayton's Bluff neighborhood on March 14.
Police investigating a fatal shooting in the Dayton Bluff neighborhood of St. Paul. (FOX 9)
What happened?
Officers responded shortly before 11 p.m. on that night to the report of gunshots along Wilson Avenue. When officers arrived, they found an abandoned car in the middle of the road near Wilson and North English Street that looked like it had been involved in a crash.
The victim, later identified as 23-year-old Devon Johnson of Minneapolis, was found in the backseat of a Jeep that was stopped fleeing the shooting scene.
What led up to the shooting?
The driver of the Jeep told police that Johnson and he had gone to Wilson Avenue to meet with a person who had contacted them through Facebook to buy cannabis.
Johnson and the driver were sitting in the Jeep when the buyer and Houston approached the vehicle.
The buyer and driver began talking about the deal when Houston pulled a gun. A struggle ensued and Johnson was shot in the chest during the ordeal.
What happened in court?
Houston was arrested weeks later and ultimately charged as a juvenile. However, this week, he was certified as an adult and entered a guilty plea.
As part of the guilty plea, Houston admitted to a second-degree murder charge while three other counts were dismissed.
Houston is set to be released from prison in less than eight years after serving two-thirds of his sentence.