Inset: David Eugene Wright (Hennepin County Jail). Background: The Minnesota street where Wright allegedly killed his ex-girlfriend (Google Maps).
A Minnesota man, aged 50, has been taken into custody on suspicion of murdering his former girlfriend shortly after she had publicly accused him of stalking her on Facebook.
David Eugene Wright was detained on Sunday and faces charges of second-degree murder with intent and illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition. The victim, 34-year-old Mariah Rosanna Samuels, was the focus of these charges, as revealed in court documents.
The Minneapolis Police Department received a report concerning a shooting incident on the 1400 block of Russell Avenue North at 7:53 a.m. The caller claimed about a dozen gunshots were fired. On arrival, emergency personnel discovered an adult female, later identified as Samuels, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to her chest and torso, located near the open driver’s-side door of a Jeep Compass.
Paramedics arrived shortly after police and pronounced Samuels dead at the scene.
Further investigation revealed that Samuels had recently sought legal protection against Wright, citing that their breakup on August 21 initiated his aggressive behavior toward her.
According to the affidavit, Wright subsequently threatened Samuels and confronted her at a location where she was with her child. He allegedly approached her with a firearm, shouted, and assaulted her by hitting her in the face and upper body with the weapon. Wright pushed her against a fence while trying to choke her with his free hand, threatened to shoot her, and expressed intentions to damage her car. Samuels’ petition highlighted her intense fear and seriousness regarding Wright’s threats.
Investigators said surveillance footage from the scene showed the suspected shooter matched Wright’s description.
A witness recounted to law enforcement hearing an initial series of five gunshots, a brief pause, followed by screaming, and then another succession of shots from an upstairs bedroom that morning.
“He looked out his window and observed the Victim lying on the street with one leg partially inside her vehicle,” the affidavit says. “He saw an individual standing next to the vehicle who appeared to be removing items from the Jeep. The individual then moved from the driver’s side to the passenger side and retrieved a bicycle. The witness observed the suspect riding away on the bicycle while holding a firearm. He stated that the male appeared to examine the firearm before placing it into his right pocket.”
A second witness said he also heard the initial five gunshots and looked out the window to see “a male with shoulder-length dreadlocks, wearing a long-sleeve shirt, open the Jeep’s driver-side door and shoot the Victim at point-blank range multiple times.”
Wright was further implicated by the victim’s own words.
In a post to Facebook at about 7:45 a.m. that morning, Samuels accused Wright of “stalking” her.
“I was trynna stay silent but stalking me at 4 in the f—ing morning and the police ain’t doing shit or did a [motherf—ing] thing beside serve him a protective order and clearly it’s not doing s— G! F— this!
Eight minutes later, police were responding to Samuels’ fatal shooting.
When brought in for questioning and shown a photo of the victim, Wright allegedly said, “I’m not going to fight this situation.” A short while later, police say he stated, “This is not going to be a hard-fought case.”
Wright is currently being held in the Hennepin County Jail without bond. He is scheduled to make his first appearance in court on Wednesday afternoon.
