On the evening of December 4, 2025, 49-year-old Michael D. Tucker was found lying in the street near the intersection of Edgerton Street and Case Avenue East in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Police officers responded to reports of a gunshot around 9:12 p.m. and discovered Tucker suffering from a single gunshot wound to his back. Despite the lifesaving efforts of medical crews who transported him to a local hospital, he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
Investigators learned that Tucker had been communicating earlier that night with a Facebook profile under the name "Lois Griffin," arranging to purchase cocaine.
Detectives traced the social media accounts and a Cash App profile to Ryshaun Ca'Mia Rhodes, a 36-year-old woman from Brooklyn Park. Forensic analysis of Tucker's phone revealed a series of calls and messages leading up to the fatal encounter. License plate reader data further implicated Rhodes, placing a black GMC Yukon registered to her in the neighborhood at the time of the shooting. Cell phone records confirmed her device traveled from Brooklyn Park to the crime scene and back. Tucker’s girlfriend later told police that he had left their home to meet someone in a large black SUV and had returned briefly with a package he believed to be drugs before going back outside, where he was ultimately shot.
On December 16, law enforcement executed a search warrant at a residence in Brooklyn Park. During the raid, 35-year-old Derek Alonzo Mitchell attempted to flee the home but was apprehended by a SWAT team. Inside, officers recovered a purple Taurus 9mm pistol from a gun safe. Prosecutors subsequently charged both Rhodes and her brother, Mitchell, with second-degree murder. Rhodes admitted to investigators that she had set up the drug deal because she needed money, but she claimed the shooting occurred after Tucker became upset about the quality of the narcotics. She identified Mitchell as the shooter, stating he fired from the vehicle as Tucker tried to run away. Mitchell initially denied being in Saint Paul but later confessed to hiding in the back seat, alleging he fired in self-defense after Tucker brandished a weapon, though police noted Tucker was shot in the back. Both suspects were held on $1 million bail.
