Man Sentenced to 18 Years for Rochester Drive-By Shooting
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A man convicted of first-degree attempted murder involving a drive-by shooting in Rochester has been sentenced to 18 years in prison.
35-year-old Exavier Porter was convicted by an Olmsted County jury last November. He was accused of opening fire on a vehicle in the 2400 block of 18 1/2 Avenue Northwest on the afternoon of October 29, 2022. According to the criminal complaint, Rochester police responded to reports that an occupant of a blue vehicle had shot at a white vehicle and then sped away.
READ MORE: Rochester Drive-By Shooting Leads to Attempted Murder Conviction
Victim Was Meeting With His Child's Mother
The court document says the responding officers located the victim of the shooting, who told them he had driven to Rochester from his home in the Twin Cities to visit his child and had arranged to meet with the child's mother at that location. After he arrived, the victim indicated the child's mother parked her car near his vehicle, and a man who was later identified as Porter stepped out of her vehicle and opened fire.
10 Shell Casings Found at Crime Scene
The criminal complaint says two bullet holes were found in the victim's SUV, which also had two flat tires. Another bullet struck an unoccupied car parked nearby, and investigators found 10 spent shell casings at the scene.
The jury that convicted the Fort Worth, Texas, man was told that police later located Porter and the mother of the victim's child in a nearby apartment complex and took them both into custody. The woman told investigators that she was aware that Porter had a gun, but denied knowing that the shooting was going to occur.
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Gallery Credit: Michelle Heart
