After working back-to-back jobs from morning to night, Brandon Christopher Roberts headed out with his friends to unwind.
But after he left a St. Paul bar, gunshots rang out and Roberts, 31, was struck. He died soon after at the hospital.
It has been nearly two weeks since Roberts, a father of three, was killed, and his family is looking for answers. No one has been arrested in the shooting.
Relatives of Roberts have heard various stories about what happened outside Johnny Baby’s bar about 2 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 22, but not about any dispute involving him. They don’t know why he was killed.
“I want justice,” said Dana Roberts, Brandon’s mother. “I want to know who killed my son, and I want them to go to jail.”
Roberts traveled to Minnesota from her New Orleans home last week and faced the task of planning a funeral, held Monday for her youngest son. She previously lived in the Twin Cities, having moved here when Brandon was 7.
Brandon Roberts played football at St. Paul’s Arlington High School before they moved to Brooklyn Park and he transferred to Park Center Senior High.
Roberts was handsome and loved looking good — even as a 7-year-old, he wanted silk shirts when he was shopping for school clothes, recalled his aunt, Robin Roberts. And his attention to detail carried over to taking care of his children, who are 2, 9 and 13.
“He took pride in brushing their hair and ironing their clothes and getting them together,” said Jeanine Roberts, who was his cousin, though they considered each other brother and sister.
Brandon Roberts lived with his cousin in New Brighton, near his children and their mother, so he could get his kids to school in the morning, his family said.
Roberts usually worked a couple of jobs at a time, and he dreamed of one day going to culinary school and starting a restaurant. He made his own “secret sauces” and was known for his potato salad, Jeanine Roberts said.
HIS LAST DAY
On Saturday, Oct. 21, Roberts worked at Finish Line at Southdale Center and then as a server at Dave & Buster’s, also at the Edina mall. He was still wearing his restaurant uniform when he went out for the night, his family said.
“He didn’t mind the long hours,” said Dana Roberts. “He wanted to take care of his family.”
A female friend picked up Brandon Roberts from work and dropped him off in St. Paul at Willard’s on Thomas Avenue and Grotto Street. Later, he and a male friend went to Johnny Baby’s.
On the morning of Sunday, Oct. 22, Roberts’ female friend banged on Jeanine Roberts’ door.
“I knew something was wrong when I looked at her,” she said. “She was crying. I said, ‘What happened?’ And she said, ‘Brandon got shot at Johnny Baby’s!’ ”
The male friend who was with Brandon Roberts at the bar later told his family there had been “some friction” between two groups of men — not involving them — inside Johnny Baby’s and they decided it was time to go, Jeanine Roberts said.
Brandon Roberts called his female friend to pick him up and, on the way to her vehicle, he was shot in the abdomen. Officers working off-duty at Johnny Baby’s bar reported hearing gunshots in the area about 2 a.m., according to police.
“He said ‘I’m hit!’ and she said, ‘What? What do you mean?’” Jeanine Roberts recounted of what Brandon’s friend told her. Another shot shattered the back window of the woman’s vehicle and she sped out of the parking lot to get Roberts to Regions Hospital, where he died, according to the cousin.
A cousin of Brandon Roberts, Melvin Paul Jr., was shot dead in Minneapolis in 2006, about six months after he moved to the Twin Cities following Hurricane Katrina, said Deatra Hollins, Melvin’s sister. No one was convicted in Paul’s killing, she said.
“I cannot live through this once again knowing somebody’s not going to get caught,” Hollins said. “We need to push to get some answers.”
St. Paul police said they continue to investigate Brandon Roberts’ killing and they ask anyone with information to call them at 651-266-5650.
HOW TO HELP
Brandon Roberts’ cousin has established an account at gofundme.com/murder-vicitms-family-travel-fund to raise money for his mother, so she can bury her youngest son in New Orleans.