ST PAUL, Minn. — Authorities charged a 24-year-old Crystal man for the fatal shooting of a 21-year-old woman who was found to be pregnant.
Paul Dwayne Harris was charged with murder, assault and illegal possession of a firearm after he allegedly executed a drive-by shooting, killing 21-year-old Gabriella Dehoyos in St. Paul on Monday.
According to the charging documents:
A black Kia SUV pulled up to Regions Hospital at roughly 5 p.m., the car appeared to have a bullet hole in the rear passenger window. The car was occupied by three young adults, including Dehoyos and three of her children, aged 3, 2, and 1.
The driver of the car told investigators a silver Ford sedan pulled up next to his car at the intersection of St. Anthony Ave. and Marion St. The driver said he looked at the sedan and saw the driver, who he recognized as "Pauly P", pointing a handgun at him.
The Kia driver then yanked the wheel to the left turning south onto Marion St. After hearing the passenger window shatter, the Kia driver realized that the sedan driver had shot.
Officers went to the scene and recovered a spent shell casing at the intersection.
Investigators used MnDOT cameras and found footage of the shooting, which corroborated the Kia driver's story.
Officers determined "Pauly P" was Paul Harris after the Kia driver confirmed Facebook pictures were of Harris.
Recent Facebook posts showed Harris driving with a handgun on his lap.
Investigators learned that Harris has a girlfriend who had just purchased the Ford sedan on March 9 and cell phone records for a number associated with Harris showed he was in the area at the time of the shooting.
Officers obtained a search warrant and placed a GPS tracker on Harris's girlfriend's car on March 15.
On March 16, SPPD followed the vehicle to a gas station, where they arrested Harris, seized the vehicle, and brought his girlfriend in for questioning.
Harris's girlfriend denied knowing anything about a shooting. She initially told officers she worked until 5 p.m. on the day of the shooting, before altering her story to say she was home by 3 p.m. She said she took a nap with her baby after returning from work and woke up when Harris returned. She assumed he had driven her car because he didn't have one of his own.
Harris denied having any knowledge of the shooting, telling investigators he didn't remember anything after his grandmother picked him up from work around noon on the day of the incident. He also said he didn't know where his phone was and that he primarily lives with his grandmother.
Dehoyos was taken into surgery immediately after her arrival at Regions, but there was no detectable brain activity, according to the charging document.
She was pronounced dead on Tuesday.
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