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LAKEVILLE, Minn. — A second murder charge has been filed after a mother and her newborn both died following a shooting outside an Amazon warehouse earlier this month in Lakeville.
The second charge comes after the newborn was taken off life support last week.
Donte McCray, the father of the newborn, is now charged with two counts of second-degree murder. The initial murder charge was filed earlier this month after 31-year-old Kyla O’Neal died on Jan. 8 after being shot outside the Lakeville Amazon warehouse. O’Neal was rushed to the hospital, and doctors were able to deliver the baby, however, the newborn died after nine days on a ventilator.
According to court documents, McCray initially told police that he’d been arguing with O’Neal throughout the day after she learned McCray had a child with another woman while she was pregnant. After McCray took his belongings to his mother’s house in Lakeville, he told police that O’Neal picked him up and took him to work at the Amazon warehouse, at which point he realized he had guns in his bags.
According to the complaint, McCray told officers he wanted to “clear” the guns of any live ammunition, and while O’Neal was moving the vehicle, he claimed he tried to clear a round in the chamber and accidentally discharged the gun, hitting O’Neal in the neck.
However, O’Neal’s family members told investigators that on the night of her death, McCray violently threatened O’Neal’s relatives and threatened to kill the mother of his children if she brought another man around, the complaint said.
According to court records, McCray and O’Neal already had a young child together.
Investigators viewed surveillance video from the day of the shooting that showed McCray get out of O’Neal’s front passenger seat while parked in front of the warehouse before he went to the back seat and appeared to move something around, court documents said. Video then showed the car pull away from the front of the building and McCray running alongside the car, at which point O’Neal pulled into a parking spot but then reversed and pushed McCray, the complaint said.
Investigators spoke to McCray again after viewing the surveillance video. At that time he admitted he was angry that the car door hit him as it backed up. Prosecutors allege he then raised the gun, pointed it at O’Neal and pulled the trigger. McCray claimed that he didn’t know there was a round in the chamber of the gun when he fired the shot, though he told officers he has taken two firearm safety courses, according to investigators.
Family and witnesses also told police that McCray is “very well acquainted with firearms and even knows how to disassemble them.” According to court documents, a judge ordered in May that McCray not possess any firearms because of a criminal conviction.
McCray remains in custody and his bail remains at $2 million with conditions, according to court documents. His next appearance is an omnibus hearing on Feb. 16 in Hastings.
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