In the winter of 2015, the life of Dominic Larrel Jasper, a 26-year-old Black or African American man, was tragically cut short in Saint Paul, Minnesota. On the early morning of December 10th, a man named Jamaine Jamie Williams, 24, arrived at the apartment of his ex-girlfriend, who was then dating Jasper. Williams, who had a history of criminal behavior and firearm possession, had visited the apartment a week prior, brandishing a gun and making threats to kill everyone present.
On the
night of the incident, Williams returned to the apartment in the 200 block of Forbes Avenue and knocked on the door, pretending to be a police officer. When the door was opened, he opened fire, shooting and killing Dominic Jasper and his friend, 23-year-old Kavonta Lashawn Pratt. A third man, Philip Turner, was also shot but survived his injuries. Police were called to the scene around 12:40 a.m. and discovered the two deceased men inside the apartment. The wounded man was found on a sidewalk a few blocks away.
The ensuing investigation led to the arrest of Jamaine Williams. Two women who were at the apartment and witnessed the shooting came forward to the police. One of the women had children with Williams and had broken up with him, a fact that pointed to jealousy as a motive. Williams was subsequently charged and, in August 2016, a Ramsey County jury found him guilty on five of the six charges brought against him. For the premeditated first-degree murder of Dominic Jasper and Kavonta Pratt, he received two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. He was also sentenced to an additional 12 years and 9 months for the attempted second-degree murder of the third victim.
