Two Men Charged in Fatal St. Paul Bar Shootout

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Two men were charged Monday in connection with a weekend shootout at a busy St. Paul bar that left one woman dead and 14 people injured.

Police say Marquisha Wiley, 27, of St. Paul, was killed early Sunday when gunfire broke out at the Seventh Street Truck Park bar. She was shot in the back as two men exchanged gunfire, according to criminal complaints.

Devondre Trevon Phillips, 29, of Las Vegas, was charged with 12 counts of second-degree attempted murder and Terry Lorenzo Brown, 33, of St. Paul, was charged with one count of second-degree intentional murder and 11 counts of second-degree attempted murder.

The two men, who had an apparent beef with each other, were among the injured. They were in custody Monday but still hospitalized and it was not clear if they had attorneys to comment on their behalf.

According to the criminal complaints: “Officers arrived to a chaotic scene – multiple people with gunshot wounds were being tended to by others. Spent shell casings and bullet fragments were all over the bar floor.”

Officers saw a man carrying Wiley, who was limp and not moving, over his shoulder, according to the criminal complaints. The medical examiner’s office said the bullet penetrated her lung and heart.

“No one should have to live in fear of those around them settling their differences with a hail of gunfire,” Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said in a statement.

The other shooting victims suffered various injuries, including gunshot wounds to the legs, arms, ankles or abdomen. All were expected to survive.

According to the criminal complaints, surveillance video shows Phillips was in the bar talking to two women when a man identified as JH approached them and appeared to be upset. JH told one of the women to walk away with him.

The complaints say Brown entered the bar and JH and a man with long dreadlocks reentered. JH walked up to Phillips, and Brown watched from a distance as Phillips shot JH in the abdomen, the complaints say. Phillips then walked toward the door, firing at Brown, and Brown fired back.

Wiley, who was behind Phillips, fell to the ground with others in her group and they tried to cover each other up as Phillips and Brown continued to shoot at each other, the complaints say.

Phillips left and fell in the street. A bar patron jumped on Brown and repeatedly punched him, as another patron grabbed Brown’s gun and ran outside with it, according to the complaints.

The man with the long dreadlocks also pulled out a gun and fired it once. He helped JH out of the bar then disappeared.

JH told investigators he went to the bar with Brown. He said he “messes” with the woman Phillips was talking to, but was not upset and claimed he only said, “What’s up?” to Phillips, the complaints say.

Brown told investigators that he and Phillips are in a beef due to allegations of domestic abuse against Brown. He also said, per the complaints, that Phillips shot him first and Brown returned fire.

Phillips initially told investigators he wasn’t part of the shooting. But when investigators told him it was captured on surveillance video, Phillips said he was targeted but didn’t know why. Phillips said he remembered a lot of shots, pain and lights, but didn’t remember having a gun, the complaints say.

The Seventh Street Truck bar is in an entertainment district just south of the Xcel Energy Center, where the NHL’s Minnesota Wild play.

___