Murder charge: Man shot woman at same St. Paul home where his teenage son was shot days earlier

A 40-year-old man shot a woman at her St. Paul home because he blamed her for his teenage son being shot there several days earlier, according to a murder charge filed Thursday.

Curtrez D. Johnson of St. Paul was charged in Ramsey County District Court with second-degree intentional murder in connection with the shooting of 40-year-old Lashonda Nix on Dec. 19 around 9:40 p.m. at her home in the 600 block of E. Cook Avenue.

Johnson was arrested Tuesday, appeared in court Thursday morning and remained jailed in lieu of $3 million bail. A message was left with his attorney seeking a response to the allegations. Johnson is due back in court on Jan. 25. His attorney declined to comment.

The shooting is among the city's 40 homicides this year, surpassing the record 38 in 2021. All but five of the deaths were from gunfire, and 10 victims were women, according to a Star Tribune database.

According to the criminal complaint:

On Dec. 13, an 18-year-old was shot in the face at a home in the 600 block of E. Cook Avenue. The teenager survived, but he has not cooperated with police, and no one has been charged.

On Dec. 19, Nix answered a knock at the door of the same home and also was shot in the face. Emergency medical responders declared her dead at the scene.

A 16-year-old boy in the home heard the gunfire and saw Johnson's pickup truck leaving. The teenager said he knew that Johnson was upset about his son being shot several days earlier. He said Johnson showed up a few days earlier, but Nix told him not to answer the door.

Nix's 19-year-old son was at home on the night of the Dec. 19 shooting, stood at the top of the stairs and watched his wounded mother fall to the floor. He said Johnson was the only person he knew to have a problem with his mother.

On Tuesday, police spotted Johnson with his mother at a Cub Foods in the Sunray Shopping Center. He saw the police, ran into the store but was soon arrested.

Johnson admitted to investigators that he often drives by Nix's home but denied that he shot Nix, and "if he were going to retaliate, it would be against the person" who shot his son, the complaint read.

Court records show in Minnesota show that Johnson has been convicted four times on various felony assault counts and once for first-degree property damage.