On a Sunday evening in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on June 12, 2016, a 31-year-old Black / African American man named Renaldo Terez McDaniel was fatally shot. The incident occurred around 8 p.m. in the parking lot of an O'Reilly Auto Parts store located in the 400 block of North Lexington Parkway. When police officers arrived at the scene, they discovered McDaniel with an apparent gunshot wound.
He was pronounced dead at the location.
The investigation into the death of Renaldo Terez McDaniel led to the identification of a suspect. Daryl Negel Curtis, a 35-year-old man from Saint Paul, was arrested in connection with the shooting. Prosecutors asserted that the motive for the killing was Curtis's belief that McDaniel had been involved in a previous non-fatal shooting of his cousin. The tragic encounter happened shortly after McDaniel had purchased a fuse from the auto parts store.
The events leading up to the shooting involved a maroon SUV. A clerk at the auto parts store witnessed McDaniel speaking with the occupants of the vehicle just before it departed from the parking lot. Moments later, three to four gunshots were heard. According to court documents, Curtis's fiancée, Tameka Rae Smithson, who was in the vehicle, told police that Curtis had spotted someone he had a dispute with in the parking lot. He then instructed the driver, Antionette R. Johnson, to pull over and stated his intention to shoot the individual.
Daryl Negel Curtis was ultimately convicted of premeditated first-degree murder in the death of Renaldo Terez McDaniel. Following the jury's guilty verdict, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Two other individuals faced charges in connection with the murder. Antionette R. Johnson was charged with first-degree murder and second-degree murder with intent. Tameka Rae Smithson pleaded guilty to aiding an offender for her role in the crime.
