A 79-year-old Minneapolis woman is recovering from serious injuries after she was shot from a block away over the weekend while inside her home. Officers arrested two suspects on Wednesday in St. Paul, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at a news conference Thursday after the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office filed charges.
The victim was sitting near a window in her home near 31st St. E. and 17th Ave. S. just after midnight Sunday when she heard glass break and felt abdominal pain.
O'Hara said officers initially had no idea who may have fired the round, but they soon spotted a damaged traffic sign and a broken fog light about 350 yards to the south along 17th Ave.
"The investigator assigned from the Minneapolis homicide unit was ultimately able to obtain video of the shooting a full block away,” O’Hara said. “Through the use of that video and others, the use of license plate readers, (the investigator) was able to identify the shooter's vehicle."
O’Hara said the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the investigation, and witnesses provided critical details.
According to the complaint, “witnesses stated they heard two vehicles driving fast and going east on 31st St East approaching 17th Ave South. They then heard a female scream in an ‘angry tone,’ followed by a single gunshot.”
Kitanna Fawn Crowell, 26, allegedly told police that she fired at another vehicle that was chasing her SUV. Crowell is charged with assault and drive-by shooting, as is her romantic partner Jamaul Wendel Graham, 52, who is alleged to have been driving the SUV. Graham faces an additional count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The victim was initially hospitalized in critical condition, but O’Hara said she has since been discharged from the hospital. According to the complaint, she “lost a significant portion of her colon due to her injuries.”
As of Thursday evening, Crowell and Graham were jailed and were scheduled to make their first court appearances Friday afternoon.
