Rochester Man Accused of Shooting at Minivan Occupied by Family of 5 Enters Plea Deal

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- A former Rochester man accused of shooting at an occupied minivan last year has entered a guilty plea. 

See Also: Rochester Man Accused of Assaulting Employee at Rochester Restaurant 

The court document indicates a family of five was in the van when the shooting occurred, including a pregnant woman and three young children. 

Rochester police responded to the shooting on the morning of July 29 in the 4500 block of 22nd Avenue NW and found two .40 caliber handgun shell casings at the scene. No injuries were reported. 

Kasson Man Enters Guilty Plea for Shooting Targeting Minivan in Northwest Rochester

Police identified the suspected gunman as 32-year-old Keywan Davonte Johnson, who now has a Kasson address. 

Court records indicate Johnson has previously spent three years in prison for a robbery conviction in 2011 and six years behind bars in 2015 after being convicted as an armed habitual criminal in Illinois. 

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The shooting occurred after Johnson was charged in a drug case that involved the sales of more than 20 grams of fentanyl to a police informant, according to court records. 

The criminal complaint in the shooting case indicates Johnson was involved in an altercation with the brother of the minivan driver the night before. 

The brother told police he had been physically assaulted and chased by a man in a vehicle Johnson was driving on the morning of the shooting. 

See Also: Rochester Man Enters Plea Deal in Wabasha County Murder Case 

The charges say the brother later used his brother’s minivan to locate the alleged assailant’s vehicle. He then shot at and damaged the vehicle with a CO₂-powered pellet gun. 

The complaint states Rochester police responded to a report of gunfire in the same area the previous evening and found some large pellets and an SUV with damage to a taillight. 

Johnson allegedly fled officers on foot when they approached him to arrest him in northeast Rochester in early August.

He was eventually captured when he fell to the ground after jumping a chain-linked fence and cutting  “in and out of residential buildings,” the complaint says. 

Read More: Man Charged in Rochester Shooting That Targeted Family  

Johnson was charged with felony counts of drive-by shooting, second-degree assault, reckless discharge of a firearm, and illegal possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a crime of violence. 

He was also charged with a misdemeanor count of fleeing police. 

Plea Deal Settles Rochester Shooting and Drug Cases

Under the terms of the plea deal, Johnson has agreed to admit to an amended charge of felon in possession of a firearm in exchange for the dismissal for the other charges in the shooting case. 

He also agreed to plead guilty to two counts of second-degree drug sales to settle the drug case. 

The plea deal also calls for a 95-month prison sentence for each drug count and a 71-month prison term for the shooting case. The court document does not say if those sentences would be served congruently or consecutively. 

Johnson is scheduled to be sentenced in May.