No charges in shooting of Mpls robbery suspect

A man who confronted and fatally shot a suspected robber won't be charged in the killing because he acted in self-defense after a gun was pointed at him, prosecutors said Friday.

Instead, prosecutors filed felony charges against the dead man's sister, alleging she participated in two earlier robberies in the same neighborhood and was with her brother the night he was shot.

Octavia Shonte Marberry, 20, of Minneapolis, was charged with two counts of aggravated first-degree robbery. Her brother, Darren Evanovich, was shot and killed Oct. 20 after police said he fled the scene of a robbery in a Cub Foods parking lot.

The man who shot Evanovich wasn't identified.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said in a prepared statement that the shooting was clearly a case of self-defense. He said the man was to be commended for helping a robbery victim but citizens, even armed ones, shouldn't chase criminals.

"Too much can go wrong, with deadly consequences," he said.

The criminal complaint against Marberry described the events leading up to the shooting. It said a 53-year-old woman's purse was taken and she was hit in the head with a handgun shortly before 10 p.m. Evanovich, Marberry and another man - all suspects in that robbery - fled.

The complaint said the unidentified man followed them in his car and asked for the robbery victim's purse back. Evanovich pointed a gun at the man, who pulled out his own handgun and fired. The man has a valid concealed-carry permit, authorities said.

Marberry was charged in an Oct. 12 robbery at a Target store and in an Oct. 15 robbery at a Cub Foods store. In both cases, a knife was used to threaten the victims, both women in their 50s.

Marberry was in custody Friday and is scheduled to appear in court Monday. It wasn't immediately clear if an attorney had been appointed for her.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)