St. Paul Man Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Shooting Outside White Bear Lake Bar
A 51-year-old St. Paul man, Kardell Baraka Otae Jackson, was sentenced to a five-year prison term on Friday for his involvement in a shootout outside a White Bear Lake bar nearly two years ago. The incident occurred in the parking lot of Doc’s Landing, where Jackson and another man, Charles Edward Stevens-Thigpen, engaged in a heated dispute that escalated into an exchange of gunfire.
Kardell Baraka Otae Jackson (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)
Conviction and Sentencing
Jackson was convicted by a Ramsey County jury in June of second-degree assault and possession of a firearm or ammunition by a convicted felon. The conviction stems from the shooting incident on September 24, 2023, where Jackson and Stevens-Thigpen fired a total of 13 rounds at each other. One bullet grazed a 48-year-old man who was sitting in the bar, and Stevens-Thigpen was shot in the leg by Jackson.
According to court documents, the dispute between Jackson and Stevens-Thigpen began inside the bar and spilled out into the parking lot, where both men retrieved guns from their SUVs and exchanged gunfire. The documents also reveal that Jackson helped a woman get into his Chevrolet Tahoe before continuing to shoot at Stevens-Thigpen, who was taking cover behind a Tesla.
Previous Convictions and Sentencing
In February, Stevens-Thigpen was given three years’ probation after pleading guilty to second-degree assault. His attorney argued that he was not the initial and primary aggressor, and he had no prior felony convictions. The sentencing of Jackson, on the other hand, reflects the severity of his actions and his prior conviction, which led to the charge of possession of a firearm or ammunition by a convicted felon.
For more information on this incident and the sentencing, please refer to the original article Here
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