ST. PAUL, Minn. — Manhunt Ongoing for Paroled Man Accused in Fatal Shooting of Pregnant Wife and Linked to Nearby Carjacking.
A Minnesota man recently released on parole for murder is now the subject of a search after being charged in the shooting death of his pregnant wife and connected to a separate shooting incident.
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Mychel Stowers, 36, faces two counts of second-degree murder in the Oct. 19 shooting of 35-year-old Damara Alexis Kirkland, who was approximately two months pregnant at the time. Officers arrived at Kirkland’s apartment to find her deceased on the floor, with ultrasound images nearby and a letter addressed to Stowers in the mailbox, according to a statement of probable cause filed Thursday.
Stowers, previously convicted in a 2008 murder case, had been on parole since March and was on a work-release program, living at a halfway house. On the day of the shooting, he had been given a pass to visit a woman identified as his ex-wife in the probable cause document. Stowers had filed for divorce in June, though records suggest it had not yet been finalized.
The apartment’s owner told investigators that Kirkland’s estranged husband had been staying with her despite not being on the lease and that she was facing eviction.
Minutes after the shooting, officers responded to a carjacking nearby where they found a 36-year-old man wounded. The man reported that he left his car running while disposing of trash when an individual matching Stowers’ description approached him and fired a shot, which shattered his femur. The assailant missed a second victim before returning to steal the vehicle.
A preliminary ballistics analysis indicated that the same gun was used in both the shooting of Kirkland and the carjacking incident.
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Later that day, Stowers reportedly called a Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office employee, stating he had “just shot someone” and wished to surrender. However, he has yet to turn himself in. The stolen vehicle was later recovered in a parking lot on Thursday, but the search for Stowers continues.
