Second murder count filed in Lakeville shooting that killed pregnant woman, newborn son

Nick Ferraro, Pioneer Press
·2 min read

Prosecutors on Monday filed a second murder charge against Donte Rapheal McCray after last week’s death of his baby, who was born after McCray allegedly shot the infant’s mother outside the Lakeville Amazon warehouse Jan. 8.

McCray, 32, of St. Louis Park, now faces two counts of second-degree intentional murder in connection with the shooting that killed 31-year-old Kyla Bianca O’Neal and Messiah Edward O’Neal, who was born by cesarean section at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis the night of the shooting and died nine days later.

McCray made his first appearance Monday in Dakota County District Court on the amended charges. His bail remains $2 million, with conditions.

The shooting happened just before 7 p.m. in the parking lot of the Amazon Fulfillment Center, where McCray worked, at 9800 217th St. W.

According to the charges, McCray and O’Neal had argued and fought after she learned he had a child with another woman while O’Neal was pregnant with his child. O’Neal was nine months pregnant with the child at the time of her killing.

McCray told police it was an accidental discharge, but later admitted in a formal interview with investigators to raising the gun, pointing it at O’Neal while she sat in the driver’s seat of her car and pulling the trigger, the complaint says.

O’Neal, of Minneapolis, also leaves behind three other children, ages 10, 7 and 2. McCray is also the father of O’Neal’s 2-year-old daughter, court records show.

Police say video surveillance from the parking lot shows McCray get out of O’Neal’s front passenger seat while parked in front of the Amazon warehouse, then go to the back passenger side door and move something.

O’Neal pulled the car away from the front of the building while McCray ran alongside. She pulled into a parking spot, but reversed the car briefly before pulling further into the spot, which pushed him backward. She then pulled forward slowly, then very quickly, hitting a parking spot post.

After reviewing the video, officers spoke with McCray again. He said that when O’Neal’s car backed up, he was hit by a door, and that made him angry and he shot her, according to the complaint.

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