MINNEAPOLIS -- The sister of the man fatally shot in a botched robbery attempt was charged Friday in connection with two robberies. The prosecutors, however, have decided to not charge the man who shot Darren Evanovich.
Octavia Shonte Marberry of Minneapolis was charged with two counts of aggravated first degree robbery.
The criminal complaint states on October 12, a 59-year-old woman was walking to her car in the Target parking lot at 2500 Lake Street East when a woman threatened her with a knife and demanded her wallet. A man with Marberry also demanded the victim's car keys before they fled.
Three days later, investigators say a 56-year-old woman was walking from the Cub Foods at 2850 26th Avenue when a woman and two men came up to her and demanded her purse. The woman reportedly used a knife to threaten the victim. The three took the woman's purse and ran off.
On October 20, a 53-year-old woman was robbed outside the same Cub Foods and struck in the head with a gun by Darren Evanovich, Marberry's brother.
A man walking by saw the attack and stepped in to break it up. He ended up chasing Evanovich and eventually pulled a gun and shot the robber. The man who fired the shots has a permit to conceal and carry a weapon.
Police responded and found Marberry standing by her brother's body.
The Hennepin County Attorney's office reviewed the events leading to Evanovich's death and determined that the man who shot the robber acted in self-defense.
According to witnesses, the man who intervened drove up to where he saw Evanovich going through the victim's purse and asked him if he wanted to give the purse back. Instead, Evanovich pointed his gun at the man and moved towards him, causing the man to pull his weapon and fire the fatal shots.
"The statements from all of the witnesses corroborate that our concerned citizen thought he was just going to retrieve the victim's purse, but within seconds was faced with a man pointing a gun at him," Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said. "When he fired, it was self-defense."
While Freeman commended the man for helping the robbery victim, he also sounded a note of caution. " We prefer that armed citizens do not chase after criminals," Freeman said. "Too much can go wrong, with deadly consequences. It is our preference to have our highly-trained and armed police force respond in these kind of cases."
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