2 Charged After Gunfire Erupts on Saint Paul Street last week

Jun 9

Two men are charged after a shooting last week in a Saint Paul neighborhood left homes damaged and two teenagers with gunshot wounds to the neck.

According to charges filed Monday, 21-year-old Damarie’Yea John Bain and 18-year-old Markell Eugene Moore were arrested following the June 6 shooting near Frank and Beech Streets.

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Surveillance footage and witness accounts helped investigators link both to the scene, where multiple shots were fired between people in and outside of a vehicle.

Police responded just after 7:30 p.m. Friday to reports of gunfire. A witness told officers she saw a blue Infiniti sedan parked on Beech Street when a man wearing gray pants and a dark hat got out of the passenger side with a handgun and chased another man across the street. The witness stated they heard gunfire shortly after. Two of the witnesses parked vehicles were hit, and officers later found bullet damage to at least two homes in the area.

Officers collected spent casings on both sides of the street and recovered a blood-stained sandal, phone, and lanyard near a pool of blood. Another witness said the shooter tried to get back into the car, but it drove off without him. People were seen running in multiple directions, and another witness reported seeing four men get out of a white Dodge Charger shortly before shots were fired.

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As police canvassed the area, a woman who lived at a nearby residence flagged them down. She told officers a man had just walked into her home saying he had a gun and that someone was shooting at him. The man, identified as Bain, reportedly told her to call police because he was “going to jail” and had been “in a gunfight.” Officers arrested Bain inside the home and recovered a slide-locked handgun and sweatshirt. The gun’s serial number had been scratched off.

Investigators later reviewed video showing Bain running through a backyard with the handgun before stashing it briefly on a doorstep and entering the woman’s home.

Moore and another teenager later showed up at Regions Hospital with gunshot wounds to their necks. The other teen told police he was with Moore when someone began shooting into the car they were in. He said his cousin was driving, and after being shot, the cousin drove them to the hospital.

Moore initially claimed he had taken a bus to buy a shirt and blacked out after hearing a loud ringing in his ear. He said he didn’t know who shot him and denied having a gun. He also said he had been wearing olive Jordan shoes, which were not with him at the hospital. Police noted that Moore’s clothes matched those of a person seen in surveillance footage running with a handgun and wearing only one tan shoe. Moore had no shoes in his hospital property but did have black socks, a green hoodie, and gray pants.

When shown a photo of the person seen running with the gun, Moore denied it was him and ended the interview.

Bain later told investigators he had been with his brother when shots were fired, and he ran due to PTSD. He claimed he found the gun in the yard and picked it up to prevent children from accessing it. He denied telling the woman he had been in a gunfight.

Both were charged Monday in Ramsey County. Moore is charged with one count of felony drive-by shooting. Bain faces two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of possessing a firearm with an altered serial number.

Each remains held and are expected to make an initial court appearance Tuesday.

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