A 19-year-old St. Paul man is accused of critically injuring another teen after the 17-year-old tried to sell him poor quality marijuana, charges say.
Deandre Lavonne Johnson was charged Friday with two counts of attempted first-degree aggravated robbery for the Dec. 19 incident, which left a 17-year-old boy paralyzed, according to the criminal complaint filed against him in Ramsey County District Court.
Johnson and a juvenile boy had planned to rob the 17-year-old of marijuana when they met him inside an SUV parked in a lot on the 400 block of Maryland Avenue West, according to statements Johnson and the juvenile made to police after the shooting.
The 17-year-old was inside the SUV along with his supplier, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, according to the charges.
Security footage captured of the incident shows two males approaching the SUV around 1:30 that afternoon. Shortly after, they are seen walking away from the vehicle toward a nearby Cadillac.
Moments later, footage shows them returning to the SUV. One of the figures can be seen walking behind the vehicle while another heads toward the driver’s window. Suddenly the SUV’s rear door opens and the 17-year-old falls out, the charges said.
Police found him in the parking lot of the Maryland Supermarket lying in a pool of blood around 1:45 p.m. He had been shot in the neck. The bullet severed his spinal cord and left him paralyzed, charges say.
His supplier and the driver of the vehicle had fled the scene after running into the supermarket and asking those inside to call 911, according to the charges.
The injured teen later told police the two males met him at the SUV to buy marijuana. After examining his product, he said they told him it wasn’t good quality and that they didn’t want to buy it, the complaint said.
After walking away, they suddenly returned to the SUV and shots were fired. It happened so quickly he told police he couldn’t see who pulled the trigger, charges say.
He later identified the juvenile as being present during the shooting. That male told police he and Johnson had planned to buy “weed” from the 17-year-old but declined to do so because the marijuana was too dry. They walked away from the vehicle and had a discussion but ultimately decided to go back and buy it anyway, the juvenile told officers, charges say.
As they walked back to the car, Johnson suddenly started firing shots, the juvenile said.
He told police “he didn’t understand why (Johnson) fired,” the complaint said.
When interviewed by police, Johnson said it was the juvenile who fired the gun and that he hadn’t expected the shooting to happen.