Law enforcement in Texas captured a St. Cloud woman who has been charged with killing another woman more than eight months ago in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis.
Longview, Texas, police arrested Erica Shameka Roberts, 36, and booked her Monday into the Gregg County jail in connection with the shooting of 30-year-old Tanasha L. Austin on March 18 in the 1900 block of S. Colfax Avenue.
"Homicide investigators with the Minneapolis Police Department have questioned Roberts," the MPD said in a statement Tuesday.
Extradition efforts are underway to bring Roberts back to Hennepin County to face charges of second-degree murder. With Roberts in custody, the charges against her of second-degree murder and illegal weapons possession were unsealed and made public Wednesday evening.
Police said an argument led up to the 7:40 a.m. shooting, and a 911 caller said a person was loaded into a vehicle and taken away. At the scene, officers were told that Austin was dropped off at HCMC. She died at the hospital.
A witness to the shooting said Roberts and Austin were in a vehicle with others when the two women started arguing, the charges read. Roberts, seated in back, lunged forward with a gun in her hand. The witness tried to take the gun from Roberts, but failed to keep Austin from being shot, the charges continued.
Austin, also of St. Cloud, was shot in the chest, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office said.
Lowry Hill resident Zach Morris said he saw the shooting, then spotted a vehicle pull up with at least three people inside. He then heard Austin threatening to call police.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said in a statement Tuesday that his department is "grateful to the public for providing information that ultimately led to this arrest, to CrimeStoppers, and to the Longview Police Department for working together to ensure that justice is served in Minneapolis and across this nation."
Roberts' criminal history in Minnesota includes convictions for first-degree robbery and aiding and abetting theft.
