St. Paul man sentenced to nearly 27 years in prison for fatal shooting in Payne-Phalen

Nick Ferraro, Pioneer Press
Updated ·2 min read

A St. Paul gunman has been sentenced to nearly 27 years in prison for the November shooting death of a 32-year-old man in the city’s Payne-Phalen neighborhood.

Deveon Quintarius Kirk, 48, pleaded guilty in July to a second-degree murder charge alleging he shot Rashaad Van Pelt nine times in an alley in the 1000 block of York Avenue around 11:30 p.m. Nov. 20.

On Wednesday, Ramsey County District Judge Richard Kyle sentenced Kirk to 322 months in prison, giving him credit for 298 days he’s already served in custody.

Also charged in the case with second-degree murder were two men who were allegedly with Kirk when they confronted Van Pelt — Dontaye Javonne Thomas, 31, of Minneapolis, and Jai’Patric Ni’Carlo Timberlake, 21, of Burnsville.

A fourth man who was also there and not charged told police that Kirk shot Van Pelt “for no reason,” the complaint states. He said Van Pelt had no weapons and was not threatening them or being aggressive before he was shot.

At the time of the shooting, Kirk was on supervised probation after a felony domestic assault conviction in Ramsey County District Court. Kirk had pleaded guilty to the charge. In October 2020, Judge Joy Bartscher stayed a prison sentence of one year and a day and put him on three years of probation.

The shooting also happened between Kirk’s plea and his sentencing on an unrelated charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. In December, he was sentenced to five years in prison for that conviction.

In the murder case, prosecutors later amended charges against Timberlake, adding one count of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, which he pleaded guilty to in July in exchange for dismissal of the murder charge. Last month, Bartscher sentenced Timberlake, who had no prior criminal convictions, to 15 months in prison, while also giving him credit for 208 days already served in custody.

Court records show the case against Thomas has been suspended after he was found incompetent to participate in defense proceedings under and then civilly committed due to mental illness. A review hearing is scheduled for March 17.

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