St. Paul police are investigating a March 14, 2024, homicide in the Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood. (Courtesy of the St. Paul Police Department)
A 23-year-old man was shot and killed in St. Paul when a teen tried to rob the victim’s friend during a marijuana deal, prosecutors say in charges filed Tuesday.
Devon A. Johnson died last month, and police found him as his friend was driving him to the hospital.
The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office charged Deshawn A. Houston, 17, of Eagan, with the murder of Johnson and attempted murder of his friend. Prosecutors gave the following information in the charging document:
Multiple people called 911 about 11 p.m. on March 14, reporting hearing gunshots, vehicles crashing and two to four people running from the area in Dayton’s Bluff.
Devon A. Johnson (Courtesy of the family)
Officers found broken glass in the parking lot of Wilson Hi-Rise on Wilson Avenue near Johnson Parkway. There were two vehicles in the area that had heavy front-end damage, and police determined the vehicle that struck them was no longer there.
A short time later and about a mile away, officers saw a Jeep that also had heavy front-end damage and was being driven erratically in the area of Minnehaha Avenue and Frank Street. Officers stopped the vehicle and the driver said his friend had been shot and was in the backseat.
Officers gave CPR to Johnson until St. Paul fire medics arrived. They attempted to resuscitate Johnson, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy found he’d been shot in the chest.
Police found suspected marijuana in plastic bags, a digital scale and $346 in the Jeep.
Johnson’s friend later told police he was initially too scared to tell them what happened, but “now wanted to be truthful.” He said a man he communicated with on Facebook Messenger wanted to buy marijuana from him and sent him the address on Wilson Avenue.
Johnson and his friend pulled up. The marijuana buyer approached with someone they didn’t know, who police later identified as Houston.
Johnson’s friend said he and the buyer were talking about the marijuana sale when Houston pointed a gun at him and told him to hand over the marijuana. He said he grabbed the gun when the teen put it front of his face while pointing it at Johnson, who was the driver. “After a short struggle, the gun went off” while Johnson began to drive away.
Johnson crashed into a couple of vehicles and his friend was able to get the vehicle to stop, put Johnson in the backseat and start to drive him to the hospital.
The buyer later said he’d been trying to CashApp money to Johnson’s friend for the marijuana and didn’t know Houston would try to rob the man and he yelled at him to stop.
Another person, though, told police that the buyer, Houston and two other people “started talking about setting up a robbery.” The person later saw the buyer and described him as “hysterical over what happened.” Houston didn’t return to the apartment where they’d been.
Investigators learned that Houston and another person, who was said to have a long-barreled revolver that Houston used in the shooting, were arrested March 29 in St. Cloud. Law enforcement collected several cellphones and a firearm, which was not a revolver.
St. Paul police tried to talk to Houston and the other person, who “declined to provide substantive statements to investigators,” the court document said.
Houston is in custody and hasn’t yet made his first court appearance in the case. He is charged with intentional second-degree murder, not premeditated; unintentional second-degree murder while committing a felony; and two counts of attempted second-degree murder. Prosecutors indicated they’ll seek to have Houston tried as an adult.
Johnson’s mother has said he was a father to young children, had played basketball and football at Minneapolis’ Patrick Henry High School, and was working as a personal care attendant.
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