In the early morning hours of July 31, 2021, a playful atmosphere inside an Austin, Minnesota, home took a tragic turn, ending the life of 20-year-old Tyesha T. Gills, a Black/African American female. What began as a night of "laughing, joking and having a good time" amongst friends ended in a fatal gunshot wound to Gills's upper chest. The incident unfolded at a residence on the 100 block of 10th Street Northwest shortly before 2 a.m.
According to a witness, Tyesha Gills was on a living
room couch with 27-year-old Me'Darian Ledale McGruder. Gills was holding a stun gun and McGruder had a handgun. The witness stated that the two were "messing around" with the weapons. At some point, McGruder reportedly told Gills, "Stop playing with me before I shoot you," a statement the witness initially perceived as a joke. Gills continued to activate the stun gun, prompting McGruder to say, "Ok you going to keep playing I'm going to pop your ass." The witness then heard the sound of the stun gun one more time, immediately followed by a gunshot. Gills's final words were, "you really just shot me."
Following the shooting, McGruder fled the scene without saying another word. Officers who arrived at the home found Gills with a gunshot wound and attempted to control her bleeding before she was transported to the Mayo Clinic Health System, where she was pronounced dead. At the scene, investigators discovered a 9mm shell casing and a "self-defense style taser." A warrant was issued for McGruder's arrest, and he was apprehended in October 2021. A GoFundMe campaign was created for Gills's family, which mentioned she had moved to Minnesota from Chicago to escape violence.
Me'Darian McGruder was charged with second-degree murder, and in February 2024, a Mower County judge found him guilty. During the trial, McGruder testified that the gun had discharged accidentally after Gills shocked him with the stun gun. However, the judge found his testimony not to be credible, concluding that McGruder had intended to shoot Gills. In May 2024, McGruder, then 29, was sentenced to over 32 years in prison for the murder of Tyesha Gills. He also received a concurrent five-year sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm, stemming from a previous conviction.
