Woman charged for fatal weekend shooting in St. Paul

The woman who allegedly shot and killed a man in St. Paul early Saturday morning now faces second-degree murder charges, according to a criminal complaint released Wednesday.

The entire incident began outside a party at a house on Dale Street North in St. Paul, according to the complaint, turning deadly when a man named Dawahn Darnell Littles attempted to break up an altercation between several women.

In the middle of the ensuing chaos, witnesses told police, one of those women broke out the window of another woman's car before taking out a handgun and firing into the group of people gathered outside, striking Littles. He was taken to Regions Hospital, where he later died. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner confirmed that he died of a gunshot wound to the chest.

Now, one step closer to justice, Littles' family reflects on the pain they'll have to deal with for the rest of their lives.

"I done cried so much my eyes feel like they ain't even there any more," William Robinson, Littles' father, said. "That woman killed my baby."

Police later arrested Denise Chanel White after she reportedly fled the scene and showed up at an acquaintance's house--though her acquaintance wasn't there at the time. The man who lived at the house told officers he knew White as a friend of his sister's, allowing her inside despite repeated proclamations of, "I shot him. I shot him," while crying profusely. 

"She knew better," Howardean Robinson, Littles' aunt, said. "You're 27 years old, you know better."

The man later identified White to police as the woman who showed up at his house, while Littles' brother--who was at the scene at the time of the shooting--picked her out of a lineup.

White is currently in custody and if convicted, faces a 40-year prison sentence.

The shooting was another tragedy for Littles' family, who buried Dawahn's stepsister last month after losing a fight with cancer. To add insult to injury, his stepmother was mugged at a local grocery store less than 48 hours after the incident. 

He owned a neighborhood hair shop called Urban Treasures with his wife and leaves behind four children.