Until the fall, homicides were trending down in St. Paul this year. But a spate of killings brought the number to nearly the same as last year’s. There were 32 homicide victims in St. Paul as of Friday, one fewer than last year and down from 40 in 2022. Yet that was still above what St. Paul experienced before 2019, when the numbers started rising. St. Paul averaged 17 homicides a year between 2010 and 2018. Investigators categorize three of the homicides this year as between strangers, which are the most rare kind. Some of the killings were domestic violence-related. The majority of cases have been connected to robberies, drugs or gang activity, which is what investigators typically see, said Senior Cmdr. Wes Denning, who’s in charge of the St. Paul police homicide/robbery unit. Charges have been brought in most of this year’s homicides and St. Paul police continue to exceed the national rate of solving them. In the 28 homicides investigated by St. Paul police (two additional are Metro Transit police cases and another two are shootings by police officers investigated by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension), there are six that haven’t resulted in charges or a resolution yet. Sgt. Toy Vixayvong, a police spokesman, said investigators do a good job of solving homicides, “but at the same time, we also need the community’s help. Somebody out there knows something.” A look at some other crime categories, based on St. Paul police reports through Dec. 23 for both this year and last, shows: Non-fatal shootings down: 103 victims vs. 119. Carjackings down: 23 vs. 40. Shots-fired without injuries up: 1,455 vs. 1,429. Auto thefts down: 1,453 vs. 2,091. The death of a 1-year-old boy on Christmas, who may have been exposed to narcotics, remains under investigation. It could be classified as a homicide when toxicology results come back. This is a look back at who lost their lives in 2024 homicides in St. Paul, and what police and prosecutors described about each case: Abdifatah Abdillahi, 23 The shooting of Abdillahi last Jan. 1 has been a difficult case for investigators, Denning said. “We have not been able to find witnesses or anybody that has been able to give us helpful information,” he said. A 911 caller reported wanting a group of people removed from a New Year’s Eve gathering on Van Buren Avenue near Snelling Avenue. While officers were on their way to the home, more 911 calls came in saying that shots were fired at the gathering. One caller said they were with someone who had been injured and were taking the victim to the hospital, which is where Abdillahi died. A handgun used in a Minneapolis homicide on Jan. 15 was found to also be involved in the killing of Abdillahi, of Roseville. Lucas Sanders, 48 A woman who told police she’d been with Sanders for five years reported they’d just returned home from a Valentine’s Day party and he collapsed. But police found Sanders had been stabbed, and a piece of cake with pink frosting had been smashed onto the living room floor of the woman’s apartment on Western Avenue near Cottage Avenue. Officers arrested the woman, Josephine Arlanda Edwards, 49, and the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office charged her with murder. Her court case is ongoing. Investigators found three separate previous police reports when Edwards reportedly assaulted Sanders, and one report when Sanders allegedly assaulted Edwards. The past cases didn’t result in convictions. Kalven Sin-Suy, 16 Kalven Sin-Suy (Courtesy of GoFundMe) Sin-Suy was texting with Maurice Gaynor Jr., then 17. Messages between the two were “clear negotiations of a deal in which (Sin-Suy) is selling a gun and narcotics to” Gaynor, the charges said. Sin-Suy’s girlfriend called 911 early Feb. 10 and said he’d been shot near Western Avenue North and Topping Street. He was hospitalized and died eight days later, on Feb. 18. Gaynor was certified to adult court and pleaded guilty to murder. He was sentenced to nearly 16 years in prison. Sin-Suy’s family wrote in his obituary: “You had an aura and energy to you that just made everyone around you so happy. You were the life of the party. Leave it to you, to say and do the most off-the-wall things that left us looking at each other and then bursting into laughter. You brought so much joy into our lives.” Thomas Dunne, 76 Thomas Dunne (Courtesy of Helen Broderick) Dunne and his wife had just finished a walk at Harriet Island on the Mississippi River. He saw a male urinating, took out his phone to take a picture, and two other males got out of a car. They tried to take his phone and one punched him in the face. Dunne sustained fractures to his eye socket and nose in the Jan. 28 assault, and died Feb. 23 in the hospital. Wyatt Daniel Doerfler, 17 at the time of the incident, admitted in court that he punched Dunne. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter in an extended juvenile jurisdiction case, meaning he is under court supervision until age 21. He received a sentence of eight years in prison, which was stayed, and was sent to the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Red Wing. Dunne fought two tours in Vietnam as a Marine and went on to serve in the Minnesota National Guard and in the Army Reserve in Wisconsin, retiring as command sergeant major. “For a hero like him to come home to his local park after being at risk in foreign wars,” his wife said, “and to be assaulted like that …” Devon Johnson, 23 Devon Johnson (Courtesy of the family) A report of gunshots led officers to Wilson Avenue near Johnson Parkway late March 14. About a mile away, officers saw a vehicle being driven erratically. Officers stopped the vehicle and the driver said his friend, Johnson, had been shot and was in the backseat. Johnson’s friend later told police he’d arranged to sell marijuana and Johnson drove him. The marijuana buyer approached with someone else, who police later identified as Deshawn Houston, then 17. Houston pointed a gun and told Johnson’s friend to hand over the marijuana. They struggled over the gun and Johnson was shot. Houston pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 12½ years in prison. “It’s almost as if it’s a slap in the face,” Johnson’s mother said of the sentence. Johnson had played basketball and football at Minneapolis’ Patrick Henry High School. He was a father and had been working as a personal care attendant. Peter Nguyen, 30 Peter Nguyen (Courtesy of GoFundMe) A witness told police that Nguyen “had some kind of issue with people who had been attending a birthday party at” the Far East Bar & Restaurant and was “squaring up to fight” with a man outside the bar at Arcade Street and Case Avenue, according to a criminal complaint. Another man came up and punched Nguyen once. Nguyen fell to the ground and died at the hospital soon after. Pheng Vang, 39, is charged with manslaughter. He’s pleaded not guilty and his court case is ongong. Nguyen’s younger brother wrote on an online fundraiser that Nguyen “played a huge part in taking care of my mother, brother, and little sisters, he did his best and did everything he can to keep food on the table and roof over their heads.” Omar Noor Nunow, 19 Nunow’s 18-year-old friend initially reported Nunow shot himself in an apartment at Marshall and Prior avenues on April 1. Adnan Abdullahi Abdi later told police he grabbed the gun, pointed it at Nunow and told him, “Freeze.” He pulled the trigger, not realizing it was loaded and Nunow was shot, the criminal complaint said. Abdi, charged with manslaughter, pleaded guilty earlier in December and is scheduled to be sentenced in February. Robert James Brown, 41 Robert James Brown (Courtesy of the family) A homicide from 16 years ago may have been connected to the April 3 fatal shooting of Brown, according to murder charges. Brown and another man were arrested after Desmond Clark, 26, was shot and killed in St. Paul in 2008. They were released without being charged. A man killed in St. Paul in 2009 was involved in Clark’s shooting, a relative of Clark’s later said, and the man arrested with Brown was fatally shot during a robbery or attempted robbery while selling marijuana in 2022. Brown told someone close to him that if anything ever happened to him to look into “Paco,” who was friends with Clark and part of the same gang, a criminal complaint said. Police identified that man as Desmen Lee Parker, 44. He and Trimell Cornell Chamberlain, 37, are charged with aiding and abetting murder in the shooting of Brown at Thomas Avenue and Grotto Street. Their court cases are ongoing. Brown grew up in St. Paul’s Frogtown. He was a dad and loved coaching both football and basketball, his longtime partner said. Pepsi Benjamin, 41 A person called 911 on May 6 and screamed, “My daughter is committing suicide!” according to a transcript of the call. Officers arrived at the home on Rose Avenue near Frank Street. An officer asked Benjamin if she was OK and she said she was. Officers’ body-camera footage showed Benjamin then pulled a gun from under a blanket and pointed it at officers, who shot her. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was called in to investigate, which is standard in such shootings, and the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office has not announced a decision in the case. Benjamin was born in Duluth and attended Century College in White Bear Lake, according to her obituary. She most recently worked as a security guard and she had a son. Kevon Ewing, 23 Ewing was on a light-rail train in St. Paul on May 17 when a group recognized him by his nickname and referred to him as an opposing gang member, according to a complaint. A relative said they confronted Ewing as if they wanted to fight. When the train got to the Dale Street station, someone in the group said, “Kill ‘em. Let’s have a shootout,” the charges said. The man pointed a gun at Ewing and fired, and Ewing ran. Another man shot Ewing as the doors opened and a third shot at Ewing as he lay on the platform. Three men are charged with aiding and abetting murder. They’ve each pleaded not guilty and their court cases are ongoing. Toumai Gaynor, 21 Gaynor was going to see if he could stay with friends, but found out he couldn’t. He asked a woman, who described Gaynor as her friend, to take him to another location. She and Gaynor were talking in her car, while she was arguing via messages with Martavious Roby-English, 22, early May 30. Evidence from the woman’s phone indicated she and Roby-English were previously in a relationship, though Roby-English referred to her as his girlfriend. Roby-English is charged with running up to the woman’s car at Simcoe Street near Milford Street and shooting into it. In surveillance video from the area, a male voice could be heard saying, “Get out of the car or I’ll kill you!” and about seven gunshots were heard. Gaynor was shot and died. Roby-English told the woman he acted in self-defense because Gaynor fired first, the complaint said. In addition to murder, Roby-English is charged with attempted murder of his girlfriend in the shooting. Saw Da Por, 21 Officers responded to 911 calls early June 12 and found Saw Da Por with multiple gunshot injuries in the rear parking lot of an apartment building at Maryland and Mendota avenues. St. Paul Fire Department medics pronounced him dead at the scene. No one has been arrested or charged in the killing of the Roseville man. Royce McKinney, 22 Lawrence D. Phelps, 31, previously stole marijuana from McKinney, then McKinney shot at Phelps in March, a 17-year-old brother of Phelps told police. The teen said he was at Cub on June 24 when he noticed McKinney in a Chevrolet Tahoe, which followed them home. A couple of hours later, the teen was inside with his family and he heard an engine revving outside. His sister looked outside and said it was the Tahoe again. The teen told Phelps, who grabbed a gun and ran outside. Soon after, the teen “heard several shots and hit the floor with his other family members,” the complaint said. Officers responded to the shooting at Van Dyke Street and York Avenue. McKinney, who’d been shot, was in the driver’s seat of a Tahoe that had crashed into a tree on the boulevard. Phelps is charged with murder and his 17-year-old brother was charged with possession of a firearm by a person under 18. Jonathan Diaz, 35 A woman told police that she and Diaz were still married, but had been separated for four years and she’d been dating James Hagen for three years. Jonathan Diaz. (Courtesy of GoFundMe) In August 2023, Hagen was shot in both his legs. His girlfriend said Diaz shot Hagen out of jealously; she and Hagen didn’t speak further to an investigator. On July 1, a friend of Diaz’s told police they drove past Hagen’s home earlier in the day and Diaz greeted his son who was outside. Diaz later returned to the home, with his friend dropping him off. She heard gunshots as she drove away and tried to call Diaz to see if he was OK. Police responded to Hagen’s residence on York Avenue off Arcade Street, and found Diaz shot near the garage. Hagen is charged with murder and has pleaded not guilty. Andrew Gutzman, 37 Andrew Gutzman (Courtesy of James Gutzman) Gutzman was found fatally shot in his home on Hatch Avenue near Chatsworth Street the morning of July 5. Investigators found he received calls from a number associated with Sabrina Anne Martens, 27. She advertised sexual services online. An analysis showed Martens’ cellphone was in the area of Gutzman’s address early that day. During that time, she texted someone and said that he had “a lot of meth. I can run with that. But idk (I don’t know) about the weed,” according to a criminal complaint. She told the person she was texting with that she was going to walk out and wrote, “Just come in.” After her arrest, Martens told her brother in a phone call from the jail, which was recorded, that she didn’t kill anyone. She said she was trying to get some money and referred to robbery. She recently pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting murder. Gutzman’s family wrote in his obituary that he loved the outdoors. He “was most at home in nature, fishing, hunting, and golfing,” they wrote. “He shared laughter and love everywhere he went.” Tirece Reed, 33 Tirece Reed (Courtesy of CrimeStoppers of Minnesota) Officers responded to multiple 911 calls reporting a shooting on July 31. Reed, of Inver Grove Heights, was found shot in a parked vehicle near Charles Avenue and Galtier Street just before 7 p.m. Reed died at the hospital. No one has been arrested or charged. Reed’s family and CrimeStoppers of Minnesota are offering a reward of up to $6,000. Lawrence Johnson, 76 A man called 911 the afternoon of Aug. 1, said he was having a psychotic break and had “choked out” a priest in a vehicle. Lawrence Johnson in a photo believed to be from the 1980s. (Courtesy of The Catholic Spirit) Police found Johnson dead in a car on the side of Interstate 94 near Prior Avenue. Nathan Wondra, 32, was in the front passenger seat. He said he’d been hearing voices and having visions for the past five days, and Johnson was taking him to the hospital when he heard voices that told him to kill him, according to a murder charge. Wondra said he met Johnson about a year earlier, that the priest would check in on him and was like a father figure to him. Johnson was ordained in 1975 and was retired since 2009, according to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Davion Brown, 22 A daytime shooting outside a tobacco store left Brown dead and a murder charge against a 16-year-old didn’t give a motive. Video surveillance showed Brown’s back was turned as a male pulled a gun from his waistband and fired at Brown, who was standing with two other men outside Maryland Tobacco on Maryland Avenue near Etna Street on Sept. 10. The suspect, who’d arrived on a bicycle, rode away. Law enforcement canvassed the area and arrested Knyaw Taw. The teen has been charged with murder. Lul Dak Chak, 32 Chak “was targeted and executed” in a shooting behind a St. Paul apartment building at University Avenue and Griggs Street on Sept. 17, according to a murder charge. A woman who said Chak was her cousin reported they’d gone out bowling with a group for a birthday party before returning to the apartment building. She went outside to smoke and Chak came out the back of the building saying he was going to purchase some drugs, the criminal complaint said. Chak’s cousin saw a Subaru in the parking lot, and a male exited the front passenger door “and immediately began shooting,” she reported. She said Chak jumped in front of her to protect her. Chak, of Ames, Iowa, died at the scene. The complaint didn’t give a reason for why Chak was shot. Law enforcement traced the Subaru and the owner reported only she and her boyfriend drove the vehicle. Her boyfriend, Kueth Chuol Ngut, 23, is charged with aiding and abetting murder. Carrie Shobe Kwok, 66 Carrie Shobe Kwok (Courtesy of Julie Shobe) Kwok was painting a public art project outside the artist cooperative where she lived on Sept. 25. A man approached and fatally shot her in the alley behind Kellogg Boulevard, between Wacouta and Wall streets. Police Chief Axel Henry said at the time that there was no evidence Kwok and the suspect had a conflict or knew each other. Surveillance video that captured the homicide was “one of the most cold-blooded things I’ve ever seen,” Henry said. With information about the vehicle the suspect fled in, police tracked a man to Belle Plaine in Scott County. Police said Seantrell Tyreese Murdock, 29, was armed with a handgun, there was a confrontation and officers shot him. He died at the hospital. Kwok had two children and four grandchildren. Her son said at the time that he was trying to process “how something like this could happen to such a strong God-centered person.” Kwok had moved into the Lowertown Lofts Artist Cooperative in February. She worked with vintage clothing, textile art and handmade jewelry, and also enjoyed sewing, home design and remodeling. Derameo Johnson, 35 A 60-year-old man told police he was on a bike ride and stopped at the Amoco gas station at East Seventh and Wall streets to get a drink on Oct. 11. He saw a man, later identified as Johnson, “acting strangely” and offered to buy him water, according to a letter from prosecutors to police about why they weren’t bringing charges in the case. Surveillance video showed the man and Johnson in a verbal dispute inside the store, after which Johnson punched the man and threw the man’s bicycle at him. The man pulled out a knife and when Johnson punched the man’s head again, he stabbed Johnson. Johnson sustained a stab wound to the side of his neck and upper arm, and died at the hospital. Prosecutors said they couldn’t prove the man wasn’t acting in self-defense and didn’t charge him. Riccardo Fleming, 28 Riccardo Fleming (Courtesy of the Fleming family) Fleming was found lying in the street with multiple gunshot wounds on Oct. 12 at Woodbridge Street and Wheelock Parkway. Police arrested a 15-year-old on suspicion of murder at Fridley High School in November. Fleming’s mother said last month that she doesn’t know why her son was shot. Fleming was visiting his father’s side of the family in St. Paul. He’d lived in Iowa and Nebraska. Fleming’s mother remembered him as funny and outgoing, and said he loved dogs and recording music. “He didn’t deserve this,” she said. Nicholas Sletten, 42 Two nights after Fleming was killed, Sletten was shot just over half a mile away at Jackson Street and Wheelock Parkway on Oct. 14, though police said there isn’t a connection between the homicides. Sletten, who police said lived in Little Canada, was born in Grand Forks, N.D., and raised in East Grand Forks, Minn. “He was the sweetest guy, always willing to give you the shirt off his back, or maybe a Nike track suit,” his family wrote in his obituary. “Nick will be sorely missed by those that knew him, which includes his brothers, sisters and so many other relatives, plus a few dogs.” Police have suspects; no one has been charged, Denning said. Damara Kirkland, 35, and her unborn child Residents of an apartment building reported they thought they heard gunshots and officers found Kirkland shot in her apartment on Sycamore Street between Jackson and Agate streets on Oct. 19. Officers noted ultrasound photos in Kirkland’s apartment and an autopsy found she was eight to nine weeks pregnant. Prosecutors charged Kirkland’s husband, Mychel Stowers, with the murder of Kirkland and her unborn child. Stowers, 36, was also charged with carjacking a man and shooting him in the leg as he fled the homicide. Stowers evaded capture until he was spotted Nov. 9 and killed in a confrontation with St. Paul police (see below). Kirkland “always wanted to become a mother,” her family wrote in her obituary. “She finally got her wish, though only a few weeks along she already started preparing to become a mother. With a box full of precious mementos and keepsakes, including her pregnancy test, ultrasound pictures, and with other things. Her child would have been truly loved and Damara would have been a great mother.” Lester Haynes, 70 Haynes was watching football with friends on Nov. 3 when another resident of his building arrived at his apartment on Dale Street just off Interstate 94. The other man, identified as Robert L. Ramsey, and Haynes argued over money. It “turned physical and the two men tussled,” a witness told police. The fight continued into the hallway and Ramsey, 64, stabbed Haynes, according to murder charges. An autopsy found Haynes died of a stab wound to the chest. Police arrested Ramsey at his apartment soon after the stabbing. Tajai Evans, 26 Tajai Evans (Courtesy of Lisa Trapps) Evans was shot during a road rage incident. Evans’ best friend was driving and Evans was the passenger on Nov. 4 when a driver pulled in front and “brake checked him,” Evans’ friend reported. The driver of the other car, identified as Ian Loi Bursey, followed them off Interstate 35E and into a strip mall parking lot on Dale Street in the area of Como and Front avenues. When Evans’ friend exited the lot and saw Bursey pulled over nearby, they stopped and Evans got out to confront him. Evans, who was unarmed, punched Bursey, who was in his driver’s seat, the complaint said. “The assault lasted 3-5 seconds before Bursey fired a gun 4-5 times,” the complaint said of Evans’ friend’s report. Bursey called 911 and provided police with his permit to carry a firearm. He said the other driver had cut him off about five times, that Evans punched him five times and he hadn’t shot to kill Evans but to get him off him. Bursey, 25, is charged with murder. A judge recently found that Bursey isn’t competent to proceed with the case due to mental illness or cognitive impairment. The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office intends to prosecute Bursey when he is “restored to competency,” according to a court filing. Evans was a father of two young children. “Tajai didn’t deserve this,” his mother said. “No one deserves this.” Related Articles Crime & Public Safety | St. Paul search warrants: Police seized drugs at home where boy, 1, was found unresponsive and later died Crime & Public Safety | A 9th telecoms firm has been hit by a massive Chinese espionage campaign, the White House says Crime & Public Safety | Court rules Georgia lawmakers can subpoena Fani Willis for information related to her Trump case Crime & Public Safety | Most Americans blame insurance profits and denials alongside the killer in UHC CEO death, poll finds Crime & Public Safety | Police awaiting toxicology results in death of St. Paul toddler. Parents have history of chemical dependency. Mychel Stowers, 36 Stowers, who had a warrant for his arrest after he was charged with killing his pregnant wife, was fatally shot by St. Paul officers on Nov. 9. Officers received an anonymous report that Stowers was on a bicycle at a laundromat in the 1100 block of West Seventh Street, according to police. Police set up a perimeter, Stowers rode the bike south on Bay Street to Watson Avenue and “officers in marked squad cars closed in on him,” police said. Stowers pointed a handgun at officers, according to the BCA, which is investigating. An officer in an approaching squad shot through the windshield at Stowers, body-camera footage shows, and another officer also fired. Dejuan Hemphill, 24 Dejuan Hemphill (Courtesy of GoFundMe) Hemphill was shot in the head on Nov. 5 at Rice and University avenues. “After fighting for his life,” he died at the hospital on Nov. 15, according to a GoFundMe for funeral expenses. Police have said they’re investigating who was responsible for the shooting and the circumstances. No one has been arrested. Hemphill was the father of a 4-month-old son, “who will now experience life without him,” the fundraising page said. Andre L. Mitchell, 26 A Nov. 22 daytime shooting killed Mitchell, who was in a parked vehicle with an infant, a toddler and another man. The other people in the vehicle weren’t hurt, but investigators found the carseat that held the infant had holes from two bullets that were “extremely close to striking the child,” police said. It happened when a small dark vehicle, possibly a sport utility vehicle, drove by and someone fired shots on Aurora Avenue just off Dale Street. Police haven’t announced arrests. Oscar Covington, 42 Oscar Covington (Courtesy of Katrina Covington) After Covington was shot outside Born’s Bar on Rice Street on Oct. 30, he died at the hospital on Nov. 26. His widow wrote on an online petition, calling for the bar to be shut down, that Covington was “a caring and innocent soul” who “went to a local bar.” Charges say Covington paid for his drinks in cash and surveillance video showed bartender Erica Ruth Hampton, 42, on her phone. After police arrested Hampton, investigators told her that records “appeared to show her tipping her son off” as she called him minutes before Covington left the bar. Hampton said she had nothing to do with the incident. Also charged in the case is Edward G. Robinson, 43. He and Hampton have a 24-year-old son. Hampton is charged with aiding an offender by being an accomplice after the fact. Robinson is charged with first-degree riot resulting in death, and two counts of aiding and abetting first-degree robbery. They’ve both pleaded not guilty and their court cases are ongoing. Sharif Walker-El Jr., 33 Sharif Darryl Walker-El Jr. (left) (Courtesy of GoFundMe) Walker-El was fatally shot on a Green Line train as it approached the Hamline Avenue station on Nov. 29. The Metro Transit interim police chief said Dec. 11 that they’ve identified a person of interest in the case. The investigation is ongoing. A sister of Walker-El wrote on an online fundraiser that he was lost “due to senseless gun violence. My mom has endured a pain no mother should have to bear once again and that is losing a child, especially to gun violence.” How to help Police ask anyone with information on St. Paul homicides to call them at 651-266-5650. Tips can also be made, anonymously or not, to Crime Stoppers of Minnesota at 800-222-8477.