A 27-year-old man fatally shot a woman in a southern Minnesota home after warning her to stop playing around with a stun gun, according to charges.
Charges: Man, 27, fatally shot woman in Austin home after warning her to stop zapping stun gun
"You just really shot me," a witness said she heard the woman say.
August 3, 2021 at 4:02PM
Me'darian L. Mcgruder, of Austin, Minn., was charged Monday in Mower County District Court with intentional and unintentional murder, and illegal weapons possession in connection with the shooting early Saturday at a home in the 100 block of NW. 10th Street that killed Tyesha T. Gills, 20, also of Austin.
McGruder has yet to be located, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
According to the criminal complaint:
Officers dispatched to the home shortly before 2 a.m. found Gills in the living room with a gunshot wound to the chest. She was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead there.
The officers saw near a couch a bloodstained stun gun designed for self-defense.
A witness helped police identify the shooter as Mcgruder. The witness said they were all "laughing, joking and having a good time," the charges quoted her as saying.
At some point, Gills was zapping a stun gun while Mcgruder had his handgun out and said, "Stop playing with me before I shoot you," the charges read.
Gills kept activating the stun gun, prompting Mcgruder to warn her again before shooting her.
"You just really shot me," the witness said she heard Gills say.
Mcgruder left the home and remains a fugitive as of midday Tuesday. His criminal history in Minnesota includes a conviction in January 2020 for second-degree assault in connection with brandishing a gun during a domestic incident in Austin.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
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