Woman charged with shooting at random car in St. Paul now accused of similar crime in Maplewood

Deanna Weniger, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
·2 min read

Dec. 27—A woman accused of shooting at random vehicles in St. Paul was charged Monday with a similar crime in Maplewood in which a woman was struck by a bullet this summer.

Latoya Nicole Weston, 44, of West St. Paul was charged in Ramsey County District Court with two felony counts of drive-by shooting and two felony counts of second-degree assault.

According to the criminal complaint, Maplewood police responded to St. John's Hospital on July 1 on a report of a woman who had been shot in the head. The woman was conscious and alert despite a bullet being lodged in the right side of the back of her head.

She told police she was driving on U.S. 61 in her Toyota Camry behind a white BMW SUV that appeared to be moving slowly.

When both vehicles turned east onto Beam Avenue, she moved to pass the BMW. As she did, she felt something hit the back of her head. Her 5-year-old son was in the back seat. He was being treated at the hospital for cuts on his arm and leg from broken glass, the complaint states.

Police inspected the woman's car and found that the right rear passenger window was shattered. It appeared a bullet had passed through the right side of the driver's seat headrest.

The bullet removed from the woman's head was from a 9mm gun, charges say. Her injuries were not life-threatening, according to authorities.

Police were able to identify Weston by the BMW and because she was arrested and charged in October for shooting at another vehicle containing a woman and three children near Marion Street and University Avenue in St. Paul.

In 2019, St. Paul police took another report from a driver that said Weston had been following her vehicle for about 20 minutes before Weston threw a brick at the car, charges say.

Weston was arrested Dec. 14. Her next court appearance is Jan. 6. She remains in the Ramsey County jail, officials said Monday afternoon.