Search underway for man accused of killing pregnant wife while on parole for murder

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The search is on for a Minnesota man who was recently released on parole on a murder charge after he was accused of killing his pregnant wife in connection with another shooting.

Mychel Stowers, 36, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the Oct. 19 shooting death of 35-year-old Damara Alexis Kirkland, who was about two months pregnant.

Officers responding to reports of gunfire found Kirkland’s body crumpled on the ground. There were ultrasound photos in the apartment and a letter addressed to Stowers in the mailbox, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed Thursday.

Stowers had been paroled from prison in March on a charge of second-degree murder in the 2008 shooting of a St. Paul man. He was on work release and living in a halfway house, but he had been granted a permit to visit a woman described in the probable cause affidavit as his ex-wife on the day of the shooting.

Stowers filed for divorce in June, although it does not appear it has been finalized yet, according to other court records.

The apartment owner said Kirkland’s estranged husband lived with her, which wasn’t allowed because he didn’t have a lease. The owner said she was being evicted, the statement said.

Minutes after Kirkland’s shooting was reported, officers responded to a carjacking nearby and found a 36-year-old man injured on the ground. The man said he left the keys in the ignition of his car with the engine running while he got out to throw trash in the trash.

He said a man matching Stowers’ description approached and shot him, the bullet breaking his femur. The shooter also shot at someone who was with the victim, but missed.

The gunman ran away but then returned and stole the vehicle, the statement said. A preliminary analysis shows that the weapon used in the carjacking was the same used in Kirkland’s shooting.

Later that day, a Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office employee received a call from Stowers. Stowers told the employee he had just shot someone and wanted to turn himself in, the affidavit said.

But he did not do so and the stolen vehicle was recovered in a parking lot on Thursday, the statement said.