A man involved in a gunfight at a crowded bar that left one person dead and more than a dozen wounded in St. Paul was convicted Thursday of eight counts of attempted murder.
Prosecutors said Devondre Phillips, 30, of Las Vegas, and another man, Terry Lorenzo Brown, 34, shot at each other on Oct. 10, 2021, at the Seventh Street Truck Park bar near downtown.
Marquisha Wiley, a 27-year-old bystander from St. Paul, was killed, and at least 15 others including Brown and Phillips were wounded, as bar patrons fled in panic.
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The criminal complaint said officers arriving at the bar found a chaotic scene, with multiple people being treated for gunshot wounds and spent shell casings and bullet fragments all over the floor.
Phillips will be sentenced March 27.
Defense attorney John Lesch argued that his client acted in self-defense when he fired a 9 mm handgun he bought the same night in the Truck Park parking lot because he felt threatened by Brown and others, The St. Paul Pioneer-Press reported.
Phillips testified at trial that conflicts with Brown and two of Brown’s friends had escalated since June 2021, including four violent encounters.
He said he fired when one of Brown’s friends approached him with a gun in his waistband and said, "Caught ya, you’re dead."
Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Treye Kettwick told the jury in closing arguments that video surveillance and photos showed Phillips shot first at Brown's friend and then toward Brown.
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According to the complaint, Brown told investigators that he and Phillips were in conflict because of allegations of domestic abuse against Brown. He also said that Phillips shot him first and Brown returned fire.
Brown, 34, who is charged with second-degree murder and 11 counts of attempted murder, is scheduled for trial on April 3. Prosecutors have said he fired the shot that killed Wiley, KARE-TV reported.
Wiley’s family members declined to comment Thursday after the verdict was read.
The Seventh Street Truck Park bar is in an entertainment district just south of the Xcel Energy Center, where the NHL’s Minnesota Wild play.
