Inset, left to right: David E. Wright (Hennepin County Jail) and Mariah R. Samuels (GoFundMe). Background: The area in Minnesota where Wright allegedly killed Samuels (Google Maps).
A 50-year-old Minnesota man accused of stalking and killing his ex-girlfriend only minutes after she posted on Facebook about his disturbing behavior is facing additional charges after investigators say they have uncovered a series of inculpatory text messages he sent to the victim before her death.
David Eugene Wright is now facing additional counts of first-degree murder and first-degree murder while committing domestic abuse with a past pattern of domestic abuse in the fatal September shooting of 34-year-old Mariah Rosanna Samuels, authorities announced.
Both new counts carry mandatory sentences of life in prison, the Hennepin County Attorney”s Office said in a news release announcing the latest charges.
“Mariah should be alive. She should be with her family, and my thoughts have been with them since they lost Mariah in September,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement. “The system failures prior to her death must never be repeated and every part of the system she interacted with must hold themselves accountable to ensure it. Mr. Wright will be held accountable, and he will do no more harm to our community.”
Wright is accused of hiding outside Samuels’ home on Sept. 14 and executing her as she got into her vehicle.
According to an amended complaint filed Monday, a review of messages sent between Wright and Samuels from August showed Wright was “controlling” of Samuels and “jealous due to his belief she was involved with a former partner.”
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For example, in an Aug. 20 text exchange, the two discussed an incident from the prior evening. Wright allegedly wrote to Samuels: “I hate that this situation took place.”
“The situation escalated after you tried slamming the door on me,” she responded, adding that she “needed space” because she “just can’t do it anymore.”
On Aug. 21, Wright allegedly wrote to Samuels, “If you don’t bring your a— home right now I’m bout to blow this b— down,” as well as “Man, someone going to die tonight.” Later that evening, Wright allegedly pistol-whipped Samuels and was subsequently charged with assault.
As Law&Crime previously reported, officers with the Minneapolis Police Department on Sept. 14 responded to a call about a shooting at a residence in the 1400 block of Russell Avenue North at 7:53 a.m., with the caller reporting that “roughly 12 gunshots had been fired.” Upon arriving at the scene, first responders located an adult female — later identified as Samuels — suffering from what appeared to be multiple gunshot wounds to her chest and torso. She was lying on the ground near the opened driver’s-side door of a Jeep Compass.
Paramedics arrived shortly after police and pronounced her dead at the scene.
Investigators soon found that Samuels recently filed a petition for protection from Wright, stating she had ended the relationship with him after the Aug. 21 pistol-whipping incident. Police detailed that alleged attack on Samuels in the original complaint:
“Later that evening, [Wright] began threatening her and arrived at a residence where she was dropping off her child. When the Victim exited the residence, [Wright] approached her with a firearm in hand, yelled at her, and struck her in the face and upper body with the weapon. He pushed her against a fence and attempted to grab her throat with his free hand. [Wright] threatened to shoot the Victim and to break her vehicle windows with the firearm. In her petition, the Victim expressed extreme fear and stated she took [Wright’s] threats seriously.”
Investigators said surveillance footage from the scene showed the suspected shooter matched Wright’s description.
A witness told police he was in an upstairs bedroom that morning when he heard “an initial five gunshots, followed by a pause, someone screaming, and then another round of gunfire.”
“He looked out his window and observed the Victim lying on the street with one leg partially inside her vehicle,” the affidavit says. “He saw an individual standing next to the vehicle who appeared to be removing items from the Jeep. The individual then moved from the driver’s side to the passenger side and retrieved a bicycle. The witness observed the suspect riding away on the bicycle while holding a firearm. He stated that the male appeared to examine the firearm before placing it into his right pocket.”
A second witness said he also heard the initial five gunshots and looked out the window to see “a male with shoulder-length dreadlocks, wearing a long-sleeve shirt, open the Jeep’s driver-side door and shoot the Victim at point-blank range multiple times.”
Wright was further implicated by the victim’s own words.
In a post to Facebook at about 7:45 a.m. that morning, Samuels accused Wright of “stalking” her.
“I was trynna stay silent but stalking me at 4 in the f—ing morning and the police ain’t doing s— or did a [motherf—ing] thing beside serve him a protective order and clearly it’s not doing s— G! F— this!”
Eight minutes later, police were responding to the fatal shooting at Samuels’ home.
When brought in for questioning and shown a photo of the victim, Wright allegedly said, “I’m not going to fight this situation.” A short while later, police say he stated, “This is not going to be a hard-fought case.”
Wright has remained in detention at the Hennepin County Jail without bond since his initial arrest.
A GoFundMe for Samuels can be found here.
