Michael Alexander Pleasants, aged 33, was found fatally shot in the early hours of April 26, 2022, in the 200 block of Bates Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota. Officers responding to a report of a gunshot discovered Pleasants lying in the street next to a car. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. Surveillance video from the area showed Pleasants standing with two men and handing one of them a brown bag.
Shortly after, Pleasants was seen on the ground, indicating the moment he was shot.
The investigation revealed that Pleasants had been in contact with Traivon Dennis Campbell, aged 22, shortly before the incident. Campbell had asked Pleasants if he had marijuana available in $100 quantities, to which Pleasants responded that he only had a pound and would sell it for $1,300. When confronted with the messages and surveillance photos, Campbell became visibly upset and admitted that he did not know his accomplice, Kemarri Miller Roan, aged 19, was going to shoot Pleasants.
Kemarri Miller Roan admitted to shooting Pleasants in the back of the head during the marijuana deal. Roan's girlfriend confirmed that she heard him on the phone with Campbell that night, and Campbell repeatedly asked Roan to accompany him. Roan initially denied being at the scene but later reached a plea agreement with the prosecution, admitting to second-degree intentional murder. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison, with credit for 447 days already served.
Traivon Dennis Campbell pleaded guilty to second-degree unintentional murder and agreed to testify against Roan if there was a trial. Campbell was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison. The case highlights the tragic outcome of a drug deal gone wrong and the swift justice served to those responsible for the death of Michael Alexander Pleasants.
