St. Cloud man convicted of 2021 homicide of woman found dead on side of the road

ST. CLOUD — A jury on Friday found a 25-year-old St. Cloud man guilty on four felony counts related to the June 2021 murder of a Minnesota woman who was shot in the head and left on the side of the road.

After a 13-day trial, the Stearns County jury found DeAntae D. Davis guilty of one count of premeditated first-degree murder, one count of aiding and abetting first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder and one count of aiding and abetting second-degree murder. Davis will be held in custody until his sentencing on June 30.

According to court documents, St. Cloud police discovered the body of 25-year-old Keisa M. Lange the morning of June 3, 2021. While canvassing the area on the far south side of St. Cloud, two men said they heard four or five gunshots that morning and saw a white four-door sedan driving north on Cooper Avenue.

Officials determined Lange last stayed at a residence in the 1000 block of 5th Avenue S. in St. Cloud. Surveillance footage shows a white Ford Fusion entering a lot near the 5th Avenue address on June 3 and witnesses told police they saw Lange in the white car with Davis and Alicia M. Lewis, Kenneth J. Carter and Angela R. Jones, who were also charged in relation to the homicide.

The following day, police found the vehicle at Jones' residence with evidence of blood in the back seat, documents state.

Officials also searched through garbage at the residence and found a note referencing "a woman working for the feds," according to court documents. Police listened to a recorded jail call during which Jones told a man she "got the message" and referenced a house near where Lange's body was found.

Lewis told police she drove the vehicle during the incident, and Jones told police Davis shot Lange, court documents state.

Last year, Lewis, 38, pleaded guilty to one felony count of aiding an offender. She is incarcerated and awaiting sentencing. In March, a Stearns County jury acquitted Carter, 27, on all charges related to Lange's death.

Jones, 35, is facing four felony counts related to Lange's death, as well as felony charges related to the homicide of 28-year-old St. Cloud woman Janesa L. Harris, who was found fatally shot in an apartment the day before Lange was killed.

During the trial, a firearms expert said the bullets found at the scene couldn't be linked to a specific gun but were consistent with the model of gun found in Davis' car that had his fingerprint on it, documents state.

Davis waived his right to testify in the trial.

Lange's obituary says she lived in Kimball and had three children. After graduating from Kimball in 2014, she worked as a support professional, bartender and waitress, and enjoyed camping, swimming, cooking and singing.