In the spring of 2023, a trip to a Saint Paul, Minnesota, Target to buy Easter gifts for his daughter turned fatal for 23-year-old Jadonn Taylor. On the morning of April 6th, Taylor and his fiancée were in the parking lot of the Target on Suburban Avenue when they noticed a suspicious Chrysler 300 with tinted windows. Feeling uneasy, Taylor suggested they leave, but his fiancée convinced him to go inside the store.
After they finished their shopping and returned to their vehicle, a man approached them and opened fire into their Mazda. Taylor was struck multiple times. His fiancée, who was not injured, drove him less than a half-mile to a nearby fire station for help. Despite the efforts of paramedics who performed CPR, Jadonn Taylor was pronounced dead at the scene from gunshot wounds to his wrist, shoulder, chest, neck, and the back of his head. The shooting, which marked the ninth homicide in St. Paul that year, was described by police as a brazen act.
In the days following the shooting, an investigation led police to a suspect. Thomas Derek Coleman, a 25-year-old man, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon. Authorities believe the shooting was not a random act of violence but rather a targeted attack rooted in gang rivalry. Investigators received information suggesting the homicide was in retaliation for the killing of a 21-year-old woman a month prior. Taylor was reportedly an associate of the man charged in that earlier shooting, and both were allegedly affiliated with a West Side gang. Coleman is believed to be a member of a rival East Side gang.
According to the criminal complaint, Taylor’s fiancée told investigators that he had been acting strangely and was paranoid after his friend was charged in the previous homicide. They had both seen things on social media that made them fearful. Surveillance footage from the Target parking lot supported her account of the shooting, showing the suspect approaching their vehicle and firing multiple rounds before fleeing on foot. The Chrysler 300, which was registered to the suspect's girlfriend, was located by police a few hours after the incident.
