ST PAUL, Minn. — A St. Paul woman has been charged in Saturday's deadly shooting on St. Paul's west side that left one woman dead and another woman injured.
According to officials, Nicole Love Smith, 42, is charged with second-degree murder without intent and attempted second-degree murder.
St. Paul police responded to a call on Saturday, Oct. 10 at around 9:30 p.m. on the 70 block of West Stevens Street for a report of a person being shot.
When officers arrived, they found a woman in the parking lot of an apartment building who had been shot, and Smith trying to render aid. According to the criminal complaint, Smith identified the victim as her cousin, LaWanda Wade, 44, of St. Paul.
Wade was transported to Regions Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
According to the complaint, Smith said Wade got into a fight with another man and woman, who also lived in the apartment building. Smith went on to say that Wade threw a grill at the man and woman, who retaliated by hitting Wade "several times with baseball bats."
Officers located a single 9mm casing in the parking lot next to a parked Chevrolet Suburban, which is registered to Smith's sister.
According to the complaint, officers got information about the shooter that matched Smith's description. A 911 caller told police that the woman who shot Wade, "accidentally shot her friend." Officers then took Smith into custody.
At the scene, officers saw a trail of blood leading to an apartment inside the building, the complaint says. Officers made contact with the people inside the apartment and determined them to be the man and woman that got into the fight with Wade. The woman had a gunshot wound on her left arm. Both the man and woman were taken into custody and the woman was taken to Regions Hospital to be treated for the gunshot wound.
Smith told police she was in the Suburban with her sister and Wade at the before the shooting, but denied shooting anyone. Smith agreed to provide a DNA sample, but when Smith was asked about submitting to a gunshot residue test, "she went ballistic," according to the complaint.
Officers placed Smith in handcuffs and collected the samples.