Final Defendant Pleads Guilty in Shootout That Killed Maplewood Teen
The 6100 block of Edgewood Ave. in Woodbury, Minn., after a shooting Saturday, June 5, 2021. PHOTO BY MN CRIME.
The fourth and final defendant charged in relation to the shooting death of 14-year-old Demaris Hobbs Ekdahl at a Woodbury graduation party in June 2021 pled guilty to felony charges in court Friday morning and will serve prison time.
26-year-old Enrique Lucio Davila pled guilty to aiding and abetting 2nd-degree unintentional murder without intent and 2nd-degree assault with a dangerous weapon for his role in the killing. As part of his guilty plea, Davila will serve 20 years in prison after he is sentenced on May 3.
According to the criminal complaint, Davila was part of a group that used guns when confronting Ekdahl, his brother and others at the graduation party on the 6100 block of Edgewood Road in Woodbury around 10:30 p.m. on June 5, 2021.
Following the confrontation, Ekdahl and his group left the party and called his stepfather, Keith Dawson. Dawson met the group and encouraged them to return to the party and confront the group. Dawson drove his SUV to the party while Ekdahl and his group followed in a car behind. Dawson then fired several gunshots before driving away. The group at the graduation party returned fire, striking Ekdahl in the car. Ekdahl was later found being rushed to Regions Hospital in the vehicle when they were stopped by police on I-94. Ekdahl died from his injuries at the hospital.
Dawson earlier pled guilty to drive-by shooting in 2023 and is serving a seven-year prison sentence. Davilla’s co-defendant, Xavier Hudson, was found guilty by a jury last September of aiding and abetting 2nd-degree murder and is serving a 37-year prison sentence. Jaden Townsend pled guilty in June 2022 to aiding and abetting 2nd-degree assault and received a three-year prison sentence.
“Forty shots rang out that night in a barrage of chaos. This senseless act of violence took the life of an innocent child and shattered the peace of our community, leaving a trail of devastation and grief,” Washington County Attorney Kevin Magnuson said in a written statement.
Dawson, Hudson and Davila remain incarcerated, while Townsend completed his prison sentence last June and has been released on parole.
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