A St. Paul man has been charged with killing another St. Paul man on the East Side Thursday afternoon; police say the man killed had been beating his ex-girlfriend near a bus shelter.
Jermaine Ray John Baker, 30, of St. Paul, was shot shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday at the intersection of E. 3rd and Earl streets in the Dayton's Bluff neighborhood, police said. He died at the scene.
Lazarus Lamar Burns II, 31, of St. Paul, faces two counts of second-degree murder in his death.
According to the charging documents, Baker got off a bus Thursday afternoon and ran across the intersection to a bus stop on the other side of the street, where Burns was standing with a woman.
Baker punched the woman and knocked her to the ground, witnesses told police, yelling, grabbing her hair and punching her in the face. Police said the woman had swollen bumps on her face and head.
Burns told Baker to stop hitting the woman, and witnesses said Burns started shooting at Baker within seconds, and Baker ran back to the street as Burns kept shooting.
Baker was shot twice in the torso.
The woman told police she had been dating Baker on and off for about four years, and that he hit her often. She had recently started a relationship with Burns.
