E'shaun Funches charged with murder in St. Paul shooting
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Ramsey County Attorney's Office has filed charges against a 22-year-old St. Paul man in the shooting death of Alfonzo Avery Armstead earlier this week.
E'shaun Maurice Funches faces two counts of second-degree murder in the Dec. 13 homicide, which happened at a store on the 400 block of University Avenue that afternoon.
Police said multiple callers reported hearing two or three gunshots. The complaint says that when officers arrived, they found the victim 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.
Funches, who the complaint says has a prior conviction on second-degree aggravated robbery charges, made his first appearance in this case in Ramsey County District Court Friday morning.
This marked the 33rd homicide of 2023 in St. Paul.