In the early morning hours of May 20, 2022, Demitri Ellis-Strong, a 37-year-old Black or African American man, was fatally shot at a Metro Transit light rail platform in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota. The incident occurred around 4:15 a.m. at the Green Line station located near Fifth and Minnesota streets. When medics arrived, they found Ellis-Strong lying on the platform with several gunshot wounds to his head and torso.
Despite their efforts to provide life-saving support, he was pronounced dead at the scene minutes later. An autopsy later confirmed that Ellis-Strong died from six gunshot wounds.
The investigation into the shooting quickly identified a suspect, Shawn Michael Tillman. Surveillance footage from the light rail platform captured the entire incident, showing Tillman approaching Ellis-Strong. According to charging documents, there had been a "beef" between the two men that escalated on the platform that morning. The footage showed Tillman raising a handgun and firing at Ellis-Strong, who stumbled backward and fell. Tillman then shot him two more times before walking over and shooting him an additional three times. A witness at the scene corroborated this, telling police they heard two gunshots followed by two more, and then saw a man stand over Ellis-Strong and shoot him three more times before fleeing on foot.
Authorities arrested Tillman the day after the shooting, using surveillance footage and DNA evidence to link him to the crime. In March 2024, a Ramsey County jury found Shawn Michael Tillman, then 35, guilty of first-degree and second-degree murder, as well as illegal firearm possession. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors described the murder as "particularly callous." At the time of the sentencing, Tillman also had pending cases against him for aggravated robberies and assault with a deadly weapon that occurred in the weeks leading up to the murder; these cases were dismissed following his life sentence. Members of Ellis-Strong's family remembered him as a man who loved his family and is deeply missed.
