An Illinois man is accused of gunning down a 37-year-old father found dead in the parking lot of the Lamplighter Lounge in St. Paul late last month.
Peter Devonn Crosby, 35, was charged Friday with one count of second-degree murder in the death of Ja’uan Love, according to the criminal complaint filed against him in Ramsey County District Court.
Crosby and Love were both at the Lamplighter Lounge at Larpenteur Avenue and Rice Street before the shooting took place Sept. 29; Love with his brother and Crosby with a couple acquaintances, court documents say.
Surveillance video reportedly showed “no issues” between the men while they were inside the establishment, the complaint said.
After the strip club closed, Crosby was seen on camera hanging around in the parking lot, according to authorities. Cameras depict him getting into one car and then exiting the vehicle to climb into someone else’s car also waiting in the parking lot, the complaint said.
Shortly after Love and his brother exited the Lamplighter, cameras show Love walking up to the vehicle Crosby was sitting in and engaging with him and the other man in the car, court documents say.
After a brief interaction at the window that included “no physical altercation,” Crosby pulled out a gun and shot Love from behind, the complaint said. He fell to the ground as Crosby and the other men in the parking lot fled.
A medical examiner ruled that Love died from two gunshot wounds, one to his head and another to his shoulder.
Police later tracked Crosby’s cellphone to Zion, Ill., where he was eventually arrested.
No motive for the shooting was disclosed in the complaint.
Love’s homicide is the 17th of the year in St. Paul. His mother remembered him Friday as a loving father of five who worked as a barber.
“He was a good guy, a good kid, a guy that loved people,” Mystie Love said. “It’s unreal. I can’t even grasp that he is (gone).”
Police have been called to the Lamplighter Lounge nearly 60 times this year for reports including disturbances, weapons complaints and assaults.