On the night of February 1, 2022, 26-year-old Casanova Giovanni Carter was in a bedroom of his family's home on the 700 block of Winslow Avenue in Saint Paul, Minnesota, engrossed in a video game. Outside, four individuals entered the yard. Three of them moved to the side of the house, positioning themselves outside the bedroom where Carter was. Suddenly, a barrage of gunfire erupted, with bullets tearing through the bedroom window and curtains.
Carter was struck multiple times in the back, neck, and face. Responding officers found him unresponsive in a hallway, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators later recovered 18 spent shell casings from four different firearms outside the home.
The investigation into Carter's murder revealed a motive rooted in gang conflict and a social media accusation. Carter, identified as a member of the Hit Squad gang, had recently taken to social media to accuse a fellow member, Kendall Dvontae Pruitt, of being a "snitch." This accusation led to escalating tensions and threats between the two men. Surveillance footage and cellphone data implicated Pruitt, along with two associates, Montez Dalray Davis and Delaquay Levius Williams, in the fatal shooting. DNA evidence collected from the exterior of the home also linked Williams to the crime scene.
In the wake of the investigation, all three men were apprehended and charged in connection with Casanova Carter's death. Kendall Dvontae Pruitt pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree murder and received a sentence of over 33 years in prison. Delaquay Levius Williams was found guilty by a jury of first-degree premeditated murder and other charges, facing a mandatory life sentence. The legal proceedings for Montez Dalray Davis are ongoing. Tragically, the violence did not end with Carter's death. On February 21, 2022, during his funeral, a shooting occurred outside the funeral home, resulting in the death of another man and injuries to three others in what police believe was a gang-related act of retribution.
