St. Paul man sentenced to 13 years in prison for deadly shooting outside tobacco shop
A judge sentenced a 24-year-old man to 13 years in prison on Thursday for his role in a deadly shooting outside a St. Paul tobacco store.
E'shaun Maurice Funches pleaded guilty to one count each of second-degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm last month for the Dec. 13, 2023, shooting.
Court documents say Funches' prison sentence will be followed by 6.5 years of probation.
The shooting happened at a store on the 400 block of University Avenue. Police said multiple callers reported hearing two or three gunshots.
The complaint says that when officers arrived, they found the victim, later identified as 30-year-old Alfonzo Armstead, with gunshot wounds in his back, abdomen and leg. He was semi-conscious when they arrived, and said he couldn't breathe before losing consciousness altogether. He was taken to Regions Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
A police sergeant witnessed a possible suspect running immediately after the shooting, where he stopped the man and took him into custody. According to the complaint, he was carrying clothing and appeared to be trying to discard them into a dumpster. Those pieces of clothing matched those of the shooter, as caught on surveillance video.
He allegedly told officers he found the clothes, and when further asked why he would have been trying to throw them away, he is alleged to have told investigators that he was trying to throw away candy wrappers, not the clothes.
Survelliance footage allegedly captured Funches exiting a Nissan Rogue right before the shooting. Investigators eventually found the vehicle's owner, who said she and her boyfriend had picked Funches up at a White Castle on Rice Street. She explained that Funches and her boyfriend had been friends for years.
Near University Avenue and Arundel Street, she says Funches got out of the car and shot a man. She went to check on the man who had been shot, but she "didn't know what to do," according to charging documents. Her boyfriend told investigators they were "distraught" over the incident and called the police.
Funches has a prior conviction of felony second-degree aggravated robbery, which bans him from owning a firearm.
