Siblings charged in fatal St. Paul drive-by shooting

Two more people face criminal charges in the drive-by killing of a man whom authorities allege was mistakenly targeted outside a St. Paul apartment building in late November.

Malik Rawls, 22, of Minneapolis and Jasmine Rawls, 23, of St. Paul were both charged Friday with two counts of second-degree murder and six counts of attempted second-degree murder. They face the same charges as Steven Rawls Jr., 25, of Minneapolis and Jarvis Sanders, 23, of Gary, Ind., in the killing of Andre Lorenzo Mitchell, a 26-year-old Minneapolis man who was shot seven times while sitting in his parked Mazda while two young children were in the backseat.

On Nov. 22, around 12:30 p.m., about an hour before the shooting, Jasmine Rawls called police to report several women, some allegedly carrying weapons, who were making threats outside her apartment, in the 600 block of Aurora Avenue.

Rawls told officers she decided to kick out someone who had been staying with her after a dispute over a phone charger. The roommate brought the women to the apartment to help with moving out, leading to the confrontation, according to Ramsey County court documents.

Police officers stayed on scene until the matter was resolved. Then, about 20 minutes after the last squad car pulled away, Jasmine Rawls’ mother called 911 to report gunfire coming from outside the apartment.

The second wave of responding police officers discovered Mitchell, with no signs of life and several gunshot wounds in his torso. He was found on the ground near the front passenger seat of a Mazda, which was parked near the front entrance to the apartment complex. The Mazda had at least 13 bullet holes on the driver’s side and shattered windows, according to court records.

Mitchell’s 5-year-old sister and his 2-month-old baby were in the car. The girl told police she covered the baby with her body during the shooting. Police reported a bullet hole in the baby’s car seat. No one in the car besides Mitchell was hurt.

A 26-year-old, who also was a passenger in the Mazda, told police they were waiting for the mother of Mitchell’s child to arrive when a black SUV pulled up and shots were fired.

Mitchell was pronounced dead on the way to the hospital.

Steven Rawls was arrested on Dec. 31 when he arrived at the hospital with a gunshot wound to his hand. He admitted he owned the black SUV and said he was the brother of Jasmine Rawls, who had called police for help earlier on Nov. 22. He denied he was in St. Paul that day.

Their brother Malik Rawls, as well as Sanders, were arrested on Jan. 1 after officers executed search warrants. That same day, Jasmine Rawls was arrested. She told investigators she sent screenshots to her brothers showing threats she had received amid the confrontation at her apartment on Nov. 22.

She denied that she called a hit on anyone. Police said phone records show Jasmine Rawls had called Malik Rawls several times on the day of the shooting. She claimed she was arranging a ride for her mother.

Investigators reported surveillance video, phone records, location tracking and social media posts connected the four suspects to the shooting.

Police showed Jasmine Rawls a photo of Mitchell. She told police she did not know and had never seen Mitchell before, according to charging documents.