Family filled with confusion, grief after fatal Dinkytown shooting

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (KMSP) - Days have passed with no arrests made in the fatal shooting of a former Eden Prairie High School student, while his family remains in disbelief that such a thing could have happened to their son.

DeSean Daggs, 23, was at a party over the weekend in the Dinkytown neighborhood of Minneapolis when he was shot and left in the yard.

It took a lot of strength for Amber Daggs to speak about her oldest son, who she says was her rock. Now, she just wants justice to be served.

"He just had such a big heart—he’d do anything for his sisters and brothers, his cousins, his family," Amber said. "For him to be the oldest, he knew he had to look out for the other ones."

Daggs said her oldest child had a heart of gold and would do anything for his younger siblings.

“His brother’s football games—he’d go, get all his friends to go—he wanted to be that support for his siblings,” she said.

DeSean died early Sunday morning near the University of Minnesota campus, with his family still searching for answers as to why this happened.

“He was a good cousin to my children and a good role model to my son," said close family friend and next door neighbor Lynnea West. "I want him to know that I’m very proud of him--and I know he knows that.”

West is also a teacher in the Eden Prairie School District and says DeSean was a widely popular student and former football standout. She remembers him as always helping others.

“DeSean would never let me walk inside without a ‘Hello,’ or ‘Can I help you with that?’" she said. That’s one of the sweetest things he could ever do."

DeSean was especially close to his younger brother, Adam, who was paralyzed after he was hit by a car in 2014.

Amber said DeSean and Adam had a special bond. During one of her last conversations with DeSean, he offered to take care of Adam all night.

“He was there and he said, ‘You go to bed, I’ll stay up with him. I’ll take care of him tonight.' You get the rest you need.’ Amber said. "And now that’s gone. Somebody took that from me.”

Minneapolis police say the another person who was also shot in the incident remains in the hospital while officers work on getting a formal statement from him to help this case.

A GoFundMe account has been set up in DeSean Daggs' name, which can be found here.