Officials identified the man who was shot to death in a strip mall parking lot in Edina over the weekend, and the alleged shooter was charged Wednesday with murder.
Darien J. Roberson, 21, of St. Paul, was shot multiple times about 9 p.m. Saturday outside the mall just east of France Avenue in the 3500 block of W. 70th Street. The Hennepin County Attorney's Office charged Kayvon J. Madison, 21, of Minneapolis, with second-degree murder.
The newly filed charges say the men attended a birthday dinner with friends when an argument turned to gunfire. Madison was one of the 911 callers and he was immediately taken into custody. He remains jailed ahead of his first court appearance Thursday. An attorney for him is not yet listed.
The shooting marked Edina's second homicide in less than two weeks. Adam Jami Garcia, 32, of Minneapolis, was charged in Hennepin County District Court with second-degree intentional murder in connection with the apparently random attack on Nov. 24 that killed Christian H. Lundegaard, 62, of Richfield.
Edina Police Chief Todd Milburn said this week that his department had already planned on stationing two officers at Southdale prior to the pair of killings in the fastest-growing part of the city. Milburn said he doesn't think the recent homicides indicate any issues specific to the city or to the Southdale neighborhood.
According to the charges:
Police received multiple reports of shots fired at the strip mall, including a 911 call from Madison, who said he had just shot someone after Roberson "came at me." But this claim was not supported by surveillance video evidence.
Madison was standing near a Glock 19 handgun in a holster on the ground when police arrived. Roberson was shot five times, including in the face and chest. He didn't have a pulse.
