ST PAUL, Minn. — "This one right here was a favorite, he didn't try to show it, he loved all his kids equally," said Princess Evans.
Fighting back tears, Evans holds her 1-year-old son inside her apartment, while grasping a picture frame bearing photos of her son and her fiancé, 38-year-old Otis Elder.
"Otis was an amazing guy, an amazing father. He loved his children, he was an amazing brother, son, friend," she said.
Elder was found shot and killed in the Midway area of St. Paul back on Jan. 10, 2022. According to court documents, witnesses told police they saw a man standing outside of the driver's side door holding a gun. His fiancé says he was an innocent victim and was planning to attend his daughter's 4th birthday party the night he was killed.
"About 9:20 p.m., he called me on the phone, telling me he was going to be on his way and to send pics of kids," she said. "I sent pics at 9:25 p.m. and Otis' last words to me at 9:28, while everything was happening, he was just thinking about his kids," she said. "At 9:50 p.m., I got the worst phone call of my life."
According to court documents, a Mercedes traced back from the crime scene, was later found to be stolen, and linked to multiple crimes. On Feb. 2, SWAT officers entered an apartment at Bolero Flats, and fatally shot 22-year-old, Amir Locke.
Police later arrested 17-year-old Mekhi Speed, Locke's cousin, who was arrested and booked on probable cause second-degree murder in Elder's death.
Evans is now calling for justice for Elder, who she says has been left out of the public outcry.
"All of Otis' kids are under the age of 18, that little boy will never remember how much his dad loved him, how much he was his dad's friend," she said. "They have a dead father, that is the real victim, let's start there."
As she comforts her children, left without their dad.
"I miss him," said their 6-year-old daughter.
She's demanding accountability for her fiancé's murder. "If I have to call, cry everyday, I don't care, I don't want attention, I don't want nothing, but what's right and that's justice," she said.
County officials filed a petition to have Speed certified to be charged and stand trial as an adult.
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