A second man has been implicated in the fatal shooting of a 31-year-old outside a St. Paul bar during the early morning hours of New Year’s Day.
Zollie Shamual Brown, 42, of Minneapolis, was charged Monday with aiding and abetting second-degree murder, as well as aiding an offender to avoid arrest, according to the criminal complaint filed against him in Ramsey County District Court.
The charges come 10 days after Trayvon Titus Anderson, 30, was charged with murder in the death of Carl Anthony Dobbs Jr. outside Johnny Baby’s on University Avenue shortly before 1 a.m. Jan. 1.
Surveillance footage shows Brown entering the bar with Anderson that night and driving the vehicle Anderson fled in after the shooting, charges say.
Anderson was charged after a police officer reviewing the footage reportedly recognized Anderson as the shooter.
The footage shows Dobbs arrive at Johnny Baby’s shortly before 1 a.m. that morning. Anderson and Brown reportedly walked into the bar around the same time. Eventually, Anderson sat down next to Dobbs, court documents say.
About five minutes later, the two reportedly apparently exchanged words, and both men stood up before getting lost in the crowd, according to the footage.
Anderson and Brown left shortly thereafter and authorities say they waited in the Chevrolet Impala they arrived in until Dobbs exited the bar about 25 minutes later.
Then, just after 2 a.m., surveillance footage showed Anderson pulling out a gun and firing it repeatedly at Dobbs’ car, according to the complaint.
Dobbs then made a sharp U-turn in his vehicle as Anderson followed and continued to fire at the vehicle.
People in the lot ducked and ran for cover. Anderson, meanwhile, returned to the Impala, climbed into the rear driver’s door, and Brown drove them both away, charges say.
An officer on patrol heard popping noises coming from the parking lot. He pulled into the lot and saw a vehicle had struck a fence.
Dobbs, who was shot four times, died in the driver’s seat. Investigators say 11 shell casings were found at the scene.
Police arrested Anderson days later. He said he was not at Johnny Baby’s the night of the shooting and that he didn’t let anybody else drive his car that evening, according to the complaint.
Brown was arrested last Friday. He reportedly acknowledged to officers that he had gone to the bar with Anderson that evening, saying the two left after Anderson got into an altercation with another man, legal documents say.
Once they got into Anderson’s vehicle, Anderson told Brown he wanted to wait for the man and his friends to leave the bar, according to Brown’s statement to police, charges say.
Brown said he subsequently fell asleep, and woke up to Anderson telling him he’d be right back. That’s when Brown said he moved into the driver’s seat.
Then he heard three gunshots, and saw Anderson walking back to the vehicle, the complaint said.
Anderson told him someone was shooting and instructed him to drive, so he did, Brown told police, according to the criminal complaint.
Brown is expected to make his first court appearance on the charges Tuesday. No attorney was listed for him in court records.
Anderson’s next court hearing is scheduled Jan. 29.