A 24-year-old man has admitted that he fatally shot a pregnant woman as she and her three young children rode in her boyfriend's car in St. Paul.
Man admits fatally shooting pregnant woman as she rode in SUV in St. Paul
The woman's three small children were also in the vehicle and her fetus did not survive.
October 11, 2023 at 9:32PM
Paul D. Harris of St. Paul pleaded guilty in Ramsey County District Court to second-degree murder during a drive-by shooting in connection with the slaying of Gabriella Dehoyos, 21, on March 13 on St. Anthony Avenue.
Harris remains jailed in lieu of $2 million bail ahead of sentencing on Nov. 2. The plea agreement includes dismissal of charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and illegal possession of a firearm, but no agreed-upon terms for what sentence Harris will receive.
Dehoyos' early-term fetus did not survive the shooting, a result that prosecutors chose not to reflect in the charges against Harris but used to encourage him to plead guilty.
Dennis Gerhardstein, spokesman for the Ramsey County Attorney's Office, explained that prosecutors at the outset "focused on what could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in court under a quick turnaround time in which a defendant must be charged within 36 hours after arrest."
As the case proceeded, Gerhardstein added, the prosecutor told the defense and the court "of his intention to add charges involving the unborn child if Mr. Harris would not plead guilty to the drive-by shooting resulting in death and admit to the aggravating factor of children being present in the car."
Harris agreed to plead guilty to the murder count and admit to the presence of Dehoyos' children as an aggravating factor, the spokesman said.
"This resolution allows the prosecution to argue the aggravating factor at sentencing and for the maximum sentence of 480 months in prison, which is significant," Gerhardstein said.
According to the charges against Harris:
Dehoyos, her boyfriend, another passenger and her three young children were together in the SUV on westbound St. Anthony Avenue around 5 p.m. when the shooting occurred. Her boyfriend said a car approached from behind and moved to the passenger side of his SUV.
The boyfriend recognized the man driving the car, saw a raised handgun and ducked. One gunshot shattered the rear passenger-side window.
Minutes later, the boyfriend arrived with Dehoyos, in the early stages of pregnancy, at Regions Hospital. She was unconscious with a bullet wound in her head and pronounced dead shortly afterward.
Police located Harris a few days later in a vehicle at a gas station in Jordan with his girlfriend.
Harris denied knowing about the shooting, telling investigators that his girlfriend dropped him off for work that day at 7 a.m. He said his grandmother picked him up around 11 a.m. or noon.
Court records show Harris has been convicted of burglary and twice for illegal possession of a gun.
