In the early morning hours of November 1, 2019, David Lee, a 32-year-old Black or African American man, was fatally shot in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The incident occurred just after 2 a.m. on the 1300 block of Davern Street in the city's Highland Park neighborhood. When police officers arrived at the scene, they discovered Lee and a woman inside an SUV, both suffering from gunshot wounds. Lee did not survive his injuries, while the woman was transported to the hospital with a gunshot wound to her leg.
An investigation into the shooting revealed that the events of that tragic night began at a Minneapolis bar. Lee, his wife, and a cousin had gone to the Broadway Pub and Grille, where Lee had a tense exchange with another man. After the group left the bar to take the cousin home in Saint Paul, they were followed by a man in a minivan. As they were outside the cousin's apartment, multiple shots were fired into their vehicle. Lee was struck four times, including in the head and chest. His wife, despite being injured, managed to press the gas pedal with her hands, causing the SUV to crash into two parked cars.
In January 2020, authorities arrested 25-year-old Darwin E. Anderson of White Bear Lake in connection with the homicide. He was subsequently charged with second-degree murder and attempted murder. Investigators were able to link Anderson to the crime through a combination of witness statements, surveillance footage, and cell phone location data. Security cameras at the bar captured Anderson's arrival shortly after Lee's group and showed him leaving after them at high speed. Further surveillance footage showed his minivan behind Lee's SUV near the scene of the shooting. Witnesses from the bar told police that Anderson had said he was "beefing" with Lee and was "going to get him." Upon his arrest, Anderson denied any involvement in the crime.
