Former St. Paul Central basketball star fatally shot during robbery attempt

A 21-year-old man is facing murder charges after a shooting Thursday night in St. Paul that claimed the life of a former Central High School basketball star.

Xavion Tyrece Bell, of St. Paul, was charged with second-degree murder Friday in the death of Dion Lamarr Ford Jr., 21, who was pronounced dead outside a grocery store in the North End. It was St. Paul's 13th homicide of the year.

According to the charges, police were called to the Maryland Supermarket, 444 Maryland Av. W., around 9:15 p.m. They found Ford lying in the intersection of Maryland Avenue and Arundel Street with a gunshot wound to the head and "a handgun partially in his hand." He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Spent shell casings surrounded Ford, who had a permit in his wallet to carry the firearm. Police said that 911 callers heard as many as 40 gunshots.

Police reviewed the supermarket's surveillance video that showed Bell getting out of a vehicle and following Ford from the supermarket to a nearby restaurant, which Ford left carrying a white plastic bag.

The video then showed Ford approaching his car with the bag when he was confronted by Bell. According to the video, Ford dropped the bags, pulled out a firearm and shot Bell, who returned fire as he fell to the ground. The two continued to exchange gunfire until Ford stopped moving, at which point Bell fired 13 more shots at Ford.

According to the charges, a man identified as VJ carried Bell to a vehicle. Bell handed the gun to another unidentified man, who walked away from the scene after police arrived. Medics took Bell to Regions Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition with a gunshot wound to his back.

Bell has been convicted of aggravated first-degree robbery and is awaiting two trials in Ramsey County District Court on aggravated robbery and kidnapping charges.

On Saturday, a vigil was held outside Central High where more than 100 people released balloons in honor of Ford. Former coaches, teammates and friends expressed their grief in an outpouring of posts on social media.

"He was an A student in my class," Domonique Gilmer wrote about Ford, referring to when he was an 8th grade student-athlete at Ramsey Middle School. "This kid had so much potential," wrote Damian Johnson, head basketball coach at Benilde-St. Margaret's School.

Ford recorded his 1,000th career point during his senior year at Central while scoring a game-high 18 points. "Only the greatest can get it, so I'm really proud," he told the Star Tribune. He later attended Casper College in Casper, Wyo., where he played basketball in 2020-21.