A Minneapolis man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend and another man in the woman’s St. Paul home in December now faces more serious murder charges.
Jamaine Jamie Williams, 24, was indicted by a Ramsey County grand jury Wednesday that added two counts of premeditated first-degree murder and a count of attempted intentional second-degree murder to earlier charges: two counts of second-degree murder and one of attempted murder.
First-degree murder carries an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole. The maximum sentence for second-degree murder is 40 years.
Dominic Larrel Jasper, 26, and Kavonta Lashawn Pratt, 23, were killed in the West Seventh neighborhood shooting. Another man was seriously injured.
The incident took place Dec. 10 just after midnight when Williams knocked on the door of his former girlfriend’s home on the 200 block of Forbes and said he was the police, prosecutors said. The woman lives in the home with another woman and her brother.
Her new boyfriend, Jasper, and her roommate’s boyfriend, Pratt, and another man were in the apartment at the time.
After the woman’s roommate let Williams into the home, Williams pointed a handgun at her stomach and told her to move out of the way, according to the criminal complaint filed in the case.
The woman ran out of the apartment as gunshots went off. William’s ex-girlfriend and her younger brother also fled.
Police arrived shortly after to find Jasper and Pratt dead in the apartment.
Jasper had been shot nine times. Pratt had been shot in his head and right ankle, the complaint said.
The third man also was hit but escaped out a window. Police found him bleeding on the sidewalk at West Seventh and Smith streets. He suffered gunshot wounds to his chest, neck, head and midsection.
The man remains hospitalized with serious injuries and is unable to assist police with the investigation.
Officers located Williams about 1 p.m. that day at a home in Bloomington. He denied involvement in the shooting and said he had spent the previous night at his brother’s home in Minneapolis.
When an officer asked him what time he’d woken that morning, Williams said he’d stirred only when police knocked on the door, the complaint said.
When the officer pointed out that Williams had already said he’d stayed the night at his brother’s in Minneapolis, Williams reportedly changed his story and said a friend had picked him up from his brother’s place that morning and dropped him in Bloomington, where he’d spent the day sleeping, the complaint said.
Williams’ ex-girlfriend later told police that she and Williams had recently broken up. Angry about her new boyfriend, she said Williams had also shown up at her home a week earlier and, waving a gun around, threatened to kill all of them.
Williams’ criminal record includes reckless discharge of a firearm, carrying a pistol without a permit, possession of a pistol as a minor, second-degree riot with a dangerous weapon and aiding an offender.