Two St. Paul, Minnesota, officers who last year fatally shot a man who was suspected of killing his pregnant ex-wife will not face charges.

The Ramsey County Attorney's Office concluded that the use of deadly force from officers Matthew Foy and Erik Jaworski was legally justified under Minnesota law.

The officers shot 36-year-old Mychel Stowers near Watson Avenue and Bay Street on Nov. 9, 2024. He had been on parole since March after spending more than a decade in prison for killing a man in 2008, and was charged in late October with two counts of second-degree murder in Damara Stowers' death. She was eight to nine weeks pregnant at the time, charging documents said.

The officers received a tip that Mychel Stowers was at a laundromat on West Seventh Street, and left on a bicycle. Video camera from the squad car shows Foy driving the car with Jaworski in the passenger seat, carrying a long gun. They close in on Mychel Stowers, at which point he "produced a handgun and pointed it at the officers," the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said.

Jaworski fired his rifle five times from the squad car, and he fell to the ground, but because of his positioning the officers didn't know if he still had his gun, the 28-page memorandum states. Foy then fired four times at Stowers with his 9mm handgun, the investigation found.

In written statements, the two officers separately said they feared Mychel Stowers would shoot them when they saw him raising his gun. 

"We are of the further opinion that the Two Officers reasonably believed that firing their respective weapons at Mr. Stowers in response to that threat was necessary to defend themselves," the letter reads.

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi wrote that he agreed with findings of the BCA investigation, and that no charges can be brought against the officers for the incident. 

For anonymous, confidential help, people can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-787-3224.