Woodbury grad party shooting: Gunman who fired shot that killed Maplewood boy sentenced to 20 years in prison

Nick Ferraro, Pioneer Press
Updated ·5 min read

The mother of Demaris Hobbs-Ekdahl said in court Friday she has not yet grieved the death of the 14-year-old, who was fatally shot after being caught up in a shootout at a graduation party in Woodbury nearly three years ago.

She said her son’s last words to his brother — that he was hit and can’t breathe — will “never leave my head.”

“I know my baby was frightened he was going to die,” Trisha Ekdahl said in her victim impact statement at the sentencing of the gunman who killed her son.

“I will never forgive or have sympathy for Enrique,” she continued. “He didn’t know my son that night.”

Washington County District Judge Laura Pietan went on to give Enrique Lucio Davila a 20-year prison sentence, which was part of a plea agreement he reached with the prosecution.

Davila, 26, of St. Paul, was one of three men who sprayed more than 40 bullets at the graduation party on June 5, 2021. Davila shot 21 times, including the bullet that struck Hobbs-Ekdahl as he rode in the back seat of a car.

Hobbs-Ekdahl had just finished his freshman year at Tartan High School, where he also played football and was remembered Friday by his coach as playing the game with the “energy and tenacity of a senior all-state player.”

Davila pleaded guilty Feb. 23 to aiding and abetting second-degree unintentional murder and aiding and abetting second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon. In exchange for the plea, the prosecution agreed not to pursue an intentional murder charge against Davila, who previously pleaded not guilty, claiming self-defense.

“If it was my choice, Enrique would not be given this plea,” Demaris’ mother told the judge Friday.

Davila’s plea deal came five months after a jury found his friend, 20-year-old Xavier Le’Drew Hudson, guilty of aiding and abetting second-degree intentional murder and aiding and abetting second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon for his role in the shootout. He was sentenced to 37 years in prison on Feb. 2.

Demaris Hobbs-Ekdahl’s stepfather, Keith Dawson, who fired the first shot from his SUV, is also serving a prison sentence after pleading guilty to drive-by shooting. He was sentenced to seven years in prison on Jan. 6, 2023.

“The shootout at a graduation party that resulted in the murder of 14-year-old Demaris shocked and saddened our community,” Washington County Attorney Kevin Magnuson said in a Friday statement. “Today’s sentencing marks the end of a three-year process to achieve justice for Damaris.”

Davila declined to address the court before Pietan handed down the sentence. He will receive credit for 946 days he’s served since his arrest.

Arrest after 3-month manhunt

According to court documents, Hudson, Davila and Jaden Lavan Townsend confronted Hobbs-Ekdahl, his brother Davion Hobbs-Ekdahl and others near the party in the 6100 block of Edgewood Avenue around 10:30 p.m.

Davion Hobbs-Ekdahl told police that Davila stuck a gun in his ribs and warned him, “Don’t try anything,” court documents say. Townsend then slapped him in the face.

The brothers and their friends then left the party. Demaris Hobbs-Ekdahl called Dawson. He met his stepsons and their friends at a parking lot in Maplewood and encouraged them to return to the party with him so the perpetrators “would stop messing with them,” the criminal complaint against him says.

Dawson drove his Chevrolet Tahoe, while the others followed closely behind in a Kia Forte. When they arrived, Davila, Townsend and Hudson were standing near an SUV parked on the street. Dawson fired six or seven shots toward the group, he later admitted to authorities.

Hudson and Davila returned fire with a barrage of bullets from their semiautomatic handguns that were equipped with 30-round clips. A bullet fired by Davila traveled through the Kia’s rear license plate, then the trunk and back seat and struck Hobbs-Ekdahl in the back, went through both of his lungs and stopped in his shoulder.

Dawson moved the boy into his vehicle. Police arrived, spotted Dawson’s SUV and pursued him to Regions Hospital, where the boy was pronounced dead about an hour later. A medical examiner determined the cause of death to be exsanguination — blood loss — due to the gunshot wound.

Davila was arrested at a house in St. Paul’s Payne-Phalen neighborhood after a three-month manhunt that included law enforcement officials asking the public’s help in locating him and distributing wanted posters with his photo around St. Paul and on social media.

‘Shined like a bright star’

At the time of his death, Demaris’ football team was preparing to start its summer work program “and his loss tremendously impacted our football family,” Tartan football coach Matt Diediker said Friday in his statement read by Assistant Washington County Attorney Scott Haldeman.

Every game since, Demaris’ teammates have “played for him and with him in spirit,” Diediker said, adding the school retired his No. 11 jersey and kept it on the sideline at games.

At senior night this year, the team included Demaris as a member of the football team. “All who have been impacted by his death — the players, coaches and parents that have been a part of the Tartan football family — mourn his loss,” Diediker said.

Demaris’ aunt Katie Ekdahl said he wore his bright blue No. 11 jersey with “pride and dignity. He had so many goals to become an NFL player one day so he could take care of his mom he loved and cared so much for.”

She said Demaris was a kid who “wasn’t into troublemakers and drama. … I miss my nephew so much. I hate the fact that he lost his innocent life by the poor choices made on June 5, 2021.”

She wore a white T-shirt with a picture of Demaris smiling, something his mother said he did often.

“Demaris was a boy that shined like a bright star,” his mother said. “No matter where Demaris was, he would always smile, laugh and joke with everyone. That’s something we will never be able to hear or see again. All we have is memories.”

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