A jury has found a St. Paul man guilty of exchanging a flurry of gunshots with another man outside a White Bear Lake bar in 2023 after an argument over a spilled drink.
Kardell Baraka Otae Jackson, 51, was convicted Friday in Ramsey County District Court of all three charges against him: second-degree assault and two counts of possession of a firearm or ammunition by a prohibited person. The verdict followed a two-day trial before Judge Kellie Charles.
Kardell Baraka Otae Jackson (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)
Jackson was taken into custody after the verdict, and sentencing is scheduled for July 28.
His attorney, assistant public defender Tyler DeHaven, said in an email Monday after a request for comment, “Mr. Jackson is disappointed in the outcome, but will continue to explore his legal options.”
Jackson and Charles Edward Stevens-Thigpen fired a total of 13 rounds at each other in the parking lot of Doc’s Landing, including one that grazed a 48-year-old man who was sitting in the bar.
A bullet was found lodged in a dart machine, and three bullet holes were discovered in the bar’s roofline.
Stevens-Thigpen, 37, of St. Paul, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in July and faced a three-year prison term because he had no prior felony convictions. He was given three years of probation at his March sentencing after his attorney argued he was not the primary aggressor.
According to the charging documents, officers were called to the bar along White Bear Avenue just north of Interstate 694 shortly before 1 a.m. Sept. 24, 2023. The shooters had fled but were soon identified as Stevens-Thigpen and Jackson.
Surveillance video showed that Stevens-Thigpen and Jackson got into a “heated dispute” inside the bar. At one point, Jackson held a pool cue as if he was going to strike Stevens-Thigpen with it. Two women and a man intervened and blocked Stevens-Thigpen and Jackson from one another.
Jackson ran to his Chevrolet Tahoe and grabbed a gun, while Stevens-Thigpen grabbed one from his GMC Denali. When he rounded a corner of the bar, Jackson fired off a shot at him, and the two men exchanged gunfire, the charges say.
Stevens-Thigpen nearly shot a woman who ran toward Jackson’s Tahoe. Jackson helped her get into the SUV before he again shot at Stevens-Thigpen. Stevens-Thigpen “grimaced” and began to favor his right leg, the charges say.
As Jackson and the woman fled the parking lot, Stevens-Thigpen fired three to four more rounds at the Tahoe. He ran to the Denali and also fled.
Stevens-Thigpen voluntarily went to the police department two days later, turning over a Smith and Wesson 9mm handgun to police when he arrived.
He said he went to a doctor a day after the shooting because of severe bleeding from a gunshot to his thigh, and that his family convinced him to talk to police.
He told police he was at the bar when he bumped into a table, knocking over a glass of soda onto his ex-girlfriend’s sister. He said that caused an argument with the woman, who was Jackson’s girlfriend, and Jackson intervened.
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“The man told me that he got something for my (expletive) ass and he’s gonna pop me,” Stevens-Thigpen said at his July 8 plea hearing.
Stevens-Thigpen said he went to his Denali to get his 9mm as a “precaution.”
“I believe four shots were fired before I fired my first shot,” Stevens-Thigpen said at his plea hearing.
Jackson was arrested Sept. 27 in the parking lot of his workplace. His Tahoe had three bullet holes to its passenger side. He denied firing a gun at the bar. Officers executed a search warrant on his Tahoe and recovered a Glock 9mm handgun.
Jackson is not allowed to possess a firearm because of a previous felony domestic assault conviction.
