A St. Paul juvenile pleaded guilty to the robbery and deadly shooting of a 24-year-old in St. Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood about two years ago. He will be sentenced next month to 16½ years in prison under a plea agreement.
Daeshon Lee Tucker, 18, pled guilty in Ramsey County District Court on Thursday to second-degree unintentional homicide while committing a felony in the death of St. Paul resident Marcus Darnell Miller on October 11, 2022. An autopsy revealed that Miller died as a result of blood loss from a gunshot wound to his back. Tucker was 16 years old when the shooting occurred and was qualified to stand trial as an adult in January.
He entered a guilty plea four days before the jury trial was set to begin. It includes the jail time, which is the maximum allowed by Minnesota state sentencing standards, as well as the dismissal of a second-degree deliberate murder allegation at sentencing on November 18.
According to the criminal complaint:
Around 6:35 p.m., St. Paul police officers were summoned to the area of Thomas Avenue and Grotto Street in response to reports of 15 to 20 gunshots and a person being shot. They discovered Miller wounded and lying next to his SUV. He was drifting in and out of consciousness before being pronounced dead at Regions Hospital.
Miller’s girlfriend told police that she and Miller were strolling in the 700 block of Thomas Avenue when a vehicle carrying two young Black men wearing face masks cut them off by driving across the sidewalk. Both carried pistols. She raced to Miller’s SUV, which was parked nearby, and hid, while the passenger searched Miller’s pockets and the driver conducted “all the talking,” according to the complaint.
She informed police that at some time, the driver began shooting at Miller. When he fled away, both the driver and the passenger began to fire on him. Miller fell twice while fleeing, eventually collapsing next to his SUV. The two male suspects returned to their vehicle and fled east along an alley.
Witnesses reported witnessing a dark blue Kia SUV stop Miller at the northeast alley of Grotto Street, and two men wearing ski masks rob him. They claimed they witnessed the males shoot Miller in the back as he fled. Officers found 20 9mm bullet casings.
Police analyzed surveillance footage from the vicinity to identify the first two letters of the SUV’s Minnesota license plate. They learned that a blue Kia Sportage had been reported stolen from Minneapolis Community and Technical College shortly after 5 p.m. that day.
On October 13, officers recovered an SUV parked in the 900 block of Albemarle Street. The forensics unit examined the vehicle and discovered Tucker’s palm print on the outer rear passenger door, according to the complaint.
Officers found Tucker’s Facebook page, which had images of him wearing a light tan DARE sweatshirt similar to the one worn by the shooter. Tucker added, “He tried ta run and he tripped,” with an emoji of a ninja assassin six days later. “This description is consistent with Miller’s movements as he tried to escape from the shooters,” according to the appeal.
Tucker was detained on November 2 after escaping police in a vehicle. He agreed to speak with homicide investigators, stating he was in Minneapolis on the day of the shooting for a family gathering and a cousin’s house. He refused to offer authorities his mother’s or cousin’s names to back up his story. Tucker ended the interview after police declined to show him any additional surveillance photographs of the suspects.
A Ramsey County Attorney’s Office official confirmed Friday that no charges have been filed against the other alleged shooter.
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