Family grieving after 2 brothers killed in north Minneapolis shooting

Family grieving after 2 cousins killed in north Minneapolis shooting

A family is mourning the loss of two loved ones, killed by a relative, as they share their grief and pain. FOX 9's Karen Scullin has more.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A family is mourning the loss of two loved ones, killed by a relative, as they share their grief and pain.

Family tragedy unfolds

What we know:

De’Asia Freeman arrived at her mom's house Monday afternoon to find her young niece and nephews hiding in a closet. She discovered her brothers, Xavier Barnett and Akwame Stewart, on the floor with gunshot wounds.

De’Asia, the oldest of eight siblings, has now lost three brothers to violence and is having trouble coping with all of it.

"I still wake up fighting and seeing this picture in my head of me and my brother getting shot in front of me and me coming home with my two brothers on the floor and they just looked like they asleep they didn’t even look like they was gone they just looked like they asleep," Freeman said.

She described Xavier as a good student who loved playing with her children, while Akwame was known for his skills in painting, cooking, and fixing things around the house.

But she also knew how much they loved her young children, who loved them back.

De’asia Freeman said, "I don’t know how I’m gonna explain this to my kids cause ya know the bond they had it was an amazing bond it was a bond that you can’t break."

Eddie Duncan killed in police shooting

The other side:

De’Asia believes Xavier tried to intervene during the incident. She expressed disbelief that their cousin, Eddie Duncan, who had just been released from jail, would harm them.

Duncan fled to Brooklyn Center, where he was killed in an exchange of gunfire with police. The family is now receiving support from "A Mother's Love," an outreach group that helped them when they lost another loved one in 2023.

What we don't know:

The exact circumstances leading to the shooting remain unclear, and further details about the incident have not been released.

What you can do:

If you’d like to help the family with funeral and other expenses, here is a GoFundMe link.