Robert Baker Charged In Fatal Shooting Outside Eagan Hotel
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - A 29-year-old man from St. Paul has been charged in connection to the fatal shooting of Maurice Antonio Anderson outside and Eagan hotel on Monday.
Robert Lee Baker was charged in Dakota County for one count of murder in the second degree and one count of possession of a firearm by an ineligible person.
According to the criminal complaint, Eagan police officers responded to a report of shots fired at a hotel at 9 p.m. One of the callers said there was a man lying on the ground outside the hotel, and another caller said they saw a red car quickly leaving the area.
Anderson, the man on the ground, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Shortly after arriving at the hotel, officers found the red car, and Baker was in the passenger seat. He and the driver were arrested.
RELATED: Man Fatally Shot Outside Eagan Hotel Identified As Maurice Anderson
The driver said she and Baker had gone to the Eagan hotel to meet up with a friend of hers. After the friend got into the backseat of the car, two men with handguns got into the backseat and told them to drive. She said she drove to a nearby hotel parking lot and the two men robbed her and Baker.
The officers then spoke to Baker, who initially confirmed the friend got in the car and the two men with guns robbed them. Eventually he said that both men who had robbed him pointed guns at him, and he fired his gun, hitting one of the men. He didn't remember how many times he fired, but said he was about 30 feet away when Anderson started shooting, and he was as close as two feet from the victim when he was shooting him. Baker said he put the .40 caliber handgun he used in a backpack inside the car.
The officers found 16 discharged cartridge casings consistent with the .40 handgun scattered around the scene, but no other type of casings.
Officers obtained a warrant for the car, and found a .40 caliber handgun and a BB gun. When asked about the BB gun, Baker said that after he shot Anderson, he collected the driver's phone, and the gun Anderson had used for the robbery.
According to documents, Baker is not allowed to possess a firearm because of his criminal history. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner said Anderson died of a total of 11 gunshot wounds, including one in his head, three in his back, and one in his buttocks.
Baker made his first court appearance Thursday morning and his bail was set to $1.5 million, without conditions. His next court appearance is set for Nov. 25 in Hastings.
