MINNEAPOLIS — Editor's note: The above video originally aired on November 12, 2021.
A Golden Valley man is charged with murder after police say he fatally shot a man who was pursuing him after the defendant ran from the scene of a car crash.
A criminal complaint details two counts of felony murder against Robert David Lloyd Hall, who is also charged with robbery and possession of a firearm by a person convicted in a crime of violence.
Minneapolis police squads were dispatched shortly before 10 a.m. Nov. 12 to the intersection of West Broadway and Lyndale Avenue North on reports of a car accident and shots fired. Officers arrived to find a man, identified in a GoFundMe account as 21-year-old Kavanian Palmer, laying in the intersection with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was declared dead on the scene.
Nearby a number of witnesses had detained Hall after he had attempted to carjack a woman in the parking lot of Cub Foods. He was taken into custody by officers.
Witnesses told investigators that Hall had run a red light in his gray Chevy Monte Carlo and crashed into a woman driving an SUV with her child inside. People on the scene said Hall fled his vehicle after the accident, and three men, including Palmer, pursued him on foot. As the men tried to detain him Hall allegedly pulled a handgun and fatally shot Palmer in the chest.
The criminal complaint says Hall then attempting the carjacking, but was pulled from the woman's vehicle and held by a group of men until officers arrived. Prosecutors say a .22 caliber handgun fell from the defendant's pocket during the struggle, and a backpack full of narcotics and bullet proof vest were also taken from Hall.
A second handgun, a .357 caliber, was recovered during a search of Hall's car.
Investigators watched surveillance video that captured the entire incident, and say it confirms witness accounts of the crash and fatal shooting.
When questioned by police Hall reportedly admitted to getting in a car crash and attempting to flee because he had guns, drugs, and an active warrant out on him. He told investigators that the gun in his pocket went off during the struggle with the good Samaritans who were trying to detain him.
A search of Hall's criminal record shows convictions for manufacturing meth and drug possession, which prohibit him from possessing a firearm.
Community members have set up a GoFundMe account to help pay Kavanian Palmer's funeral expenses and support his mother and sister in their time of grief and need. To contribute click here.