Two charged after south Minneapolis woman, 79, shot inside home by gunfire a block away

Police have arrested and charged a woman suspected of critically injuring a 79-year-old who was sitting in her home when the suspect allegedly fired a gun during a car chase in south Minneapolis.

According to the criminal complaint, police responded a little after midnight on Sunday morning to the 1700 block of E. 31st Street, after receiving a call about a woman shot in the stomach.

The woman’s partner, Steve Osthus, 73, said in a phone interview Thursday that he was lying on a couch when he heard her scream as she was preparing food at their dining room table. Osthus realized she had been hit by a bullet that went through a window. He asked that she not be identified to protect her privacy.

“She was still confused about what happened, but then I saw there was blood on her abdomen,” Osthus said.

The victim was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. She had extensive surgery, but she was released from the hospital on Wednesday and is expected to make a full recovery, Osthus said.

Charges say that Kitanna Fawn Crowell, 26, of Robbinsdale, fired the gun from a passenger seat in a passing vehicle. She was charged Thursday with first-degree assault and a dangerous weapons charge for allegedly shooting toward an occupied vehicle or building.

The alleged driver, Jamaul Wendel Graham, 52, of Minneapolis, was charged with the same crimes, along with an illegal gun possession charge.

Police spoke with two witnesses who were in the backyard next door to where the shooting happened, according to the complaint. They said two vehicles were driving fast east on 31st Street approaching 17th Avenue S. before hearing a gunshot, the complaint said.

Another witness said he saw two SUVs chasing each other, driven by men with guns. The driver of the second SUV has not yet been identified.

Minneapolis officers located the suspects and the SUV two days later at Maplewood Mall and arrested Graham and Crowell, the charges say. The officers also found a loaded .45 caliber handgun that allegedly matched the bullet removed from the victim.

After her arrest, Crowell said that she and Graham were in a relationship, and that she shot because they were being chased, according to the complaint.

Chief Brian O’Hara said evidence helped police make the arrest, including a piece of a fog light that broke off of the suspects’ vehicle when they crashed into a traffic sign. He said it’s “thankful that there is some sense of justice in this case.”

Osthus said the shooting has affected the couple’s sense of safety in their neighborhood, just south of E. Lake Street and northeast of Powderhorn Park.