A fourth gunman has been sentenced for his role in the gang slaying of a man who was shot while playing a video game in front of his bedroom window on St. Paul’s West Side.

Dai’Quan Lamar Husten was the last of four men sentenced in the murder of Casanova Giovanni Carter, who was struck by three bullets fired through the window of his home in the 700 block of Winslow Avenue around 10:15 p.m. Feb. 1, 2022.

Casanova Carter (Courtesy of family)

Husten, 26, of St. Paul, pleaded guilty Thursday in Ramsey County District Court to second-degree aiding and abetting unintentional murder while committing a felony, a lesser charge added by the prosecution as part of a plea agreement. He was then given an agreed-upon prison sentence of nearly 15 years, which includes credit for just shy of three years already served in custody.

Two other charges — second-degree intentional murder and possession of a firearm by an ineligible person — were dismissed.

Carter and the four shooters were associated with gangs, according to police and prosecutors. The criminal complaints say Carter and one of Husten’s accomplices, Kendall Dvontae Pruitt, began “beefing” after Carter called him a “snitch” in a social media post.

Carter, a 26-year-old father of three children, was hit in the head, face and back and died at the scene. Investigators recovered 18 spent casings outside the home that ballistics testing showed came from four guns: three 9mm and a .45 caliber.

Husten admitted in an August 2022 interview with police that he fired shots at Carter’s front door and then ran from the house. The other three men fired through Carter’s window.

In December, Husten and Montez Dalray Davis testified against their co-defendant, Delaquay Levius Williams. In exchange for testifying, the prosecution agreed to take first-degree murder charges off the table.

Delaquay Levius Williams, Montez Dalray Davis, Kendall Dvontae Pruitt and Dai’Quan Lamar Husten (Courtesy of Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

Jurors convicted Williams, 30, of St. Paul, of first-degree murder and other charges, and he’s serving the mandatory term of life in prison.

Pruitt, 28, of Minneapolis, also spoke with the prosecution prior to pleading guilty to second-degree intentional murder in September 2023. He’s serving a 30½-year prison term.

Like Husten, Davis, 26, of Brooklyn Park, was given a plea deal. On Tuesday, he was given an agreed-upon prison sentence of 22½ years.

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