ST PAUL, Minn. — A Crystal man will serve a 38.5-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to shooting a pregnant mother of three last March.
Paul Dwayne Harris was sentenced in Ramsey County District Court Thursday in the death of 21-year-old Gabrielle Dehoyos, who investigators say was sitting in a car at the corner of St. Anthony Avenue and Marion Street the evening of March 13, 2023 when another vehicle pulled up at the stoplight and the driver, later identified as Harris, opened fire.
Dehoyos was rushed to Regions Hospital by car and taken into surgery immediately, but doctors found no detectable brain activity. She died the following day.
The person driving the car Dehoyos was a passenger in told investigators a man known as "Pauly P" was responsible for the shooting, and was actually pointing the gun at him. Officers looked at pictures on Facebook and determined that Pauly P was Paul Dwayne Harris. After denying he was the shooter, Harris eventually pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
During emotional victim impact statements Gabby's mother Denise Dehoyos described getting the phone call that her daughter had been shot, and holding her hand all night after she got out of surgery, thinking that the 21-year-old would somehow survive.
"I never thought anything like this would ever happen to any of my children," Dehoyos said, weeping. "It's like this scary movie that replays in our heads and to this day I still feel like my daughter is going to come home... but in reality I know she's not.
"I wake up every day with a void in my heart," Gabby's sister Charlotte told the courtroom. "Gabby brought light into every room she walk in. I can still hear her funny laugh, I can still feel her annoying pinches."
Her father was straight to the point when he addressed Harris personally. "We're the ones that have to live the life sentence without Gabriella, but it really should be Paul. I feel no sympathy for your soul, you were out to kill that day... we can't forgive or forget what happened."
Ramsey County District Court Judge Maria Mitchell handed down the 38.5-year sentence, of which Harris must serve just over 25 years. He will be credited for 260 days already served in jail.
"I hope that during that time you realize that your life is not over," Judge Mitchell told the defendant. "That you will parent from prison, that you will take advantage of all the things they have for violence prevention and to make your life better."
"You can make amends to the (Dehoyos) family by living a better life."
The messages seemed to have no impact on Harris, who stood up and wildly flashed signs with his arms before being led from the courtroom by deputies as both his supporters and people from Gabby's family shouted at each other.
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