Long sentence for man who killed carjacking victim lured to Minneapolis on dating app

A man was sentenced to 30 years in prison this week for carjacking and killing a victim lured to Minneapolis on a dating app.

Vernon Sirhyde Archie, 29, of St. Paul, was sentenced Thursday in Hennepin County District Court after jurors convicted him of second-degree murder in connection with the shooting of Da’Vonte Jovan Adams, 28, of Spring Valley, Minn., in May 2024.

With credit for time in jail since his arrest, Archie is expected to serve the first 19½ years in prison and the balance of his term on supervised release.

Accomplice Megan Renee Karjala, 24, of Coon Rapids, reached a plea agreement in April and is serving a 4¾-year term after admitting to first-degree aggravated robbery.

According to the criminal complaints:

On May 17, 2024, neighbors told police they heard arguing, followed by gunfire and a man yelling for help. A 911 caller reported seeing two people flee in Adams’ Chevy Suburban.

Police found Adams with several gunshot wounds in the 2200 block of 5th Avenue N. at about 4:45 a.m. He was pronounced dead at HCMC.

Police seized from Archie live and spent rounds of .45-caliber ammunition, the same caliber of a casing found next to Adams’ body. They also recovered from Karjala a handgun of the same caliber and another gun, a .380-caliber, from the Honda. Both were loaded.

Police found Adams’ stolen SUV on May 19, 2024, and DNA from Karjala and Archie was inside the vehicle.

Surveillance video from the Minneapolis shooting showed Karjala and Archie wearing ski masks as they walked parallel to each other on opposite sides of the street. Adams pulled up minutes later. Karjala got in the front passenger seat shortly before the gunfire erupted.

She said she met Adams on a dating app, and they arranged to meet. When Adams arrived, she and Archie attempted to grab his keys. Adams ran, and Archie shot him several times, she said.