A Ramsey County jury found Ian Loi Bursey guilty of murder in the St. Paul shooting of Tajai Evans.

A guilty verdict on both murder counts is the jury's finding. It is not the sentence. KSTP reported Bursey was convicted Monday of two counts of second-degree murder and drive-by shooting at an occupied vehicle, and Law&Crime reported a hearing on Dec. 4 with sentencing on Dec. 11. What he told investigators about self-defense is his account from the charging papers. The years get set on Dec. 11.

KSTP reported that a jury on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, convicted Ian Loi Bursey, 27, on every count in the St. Paul killing of Tajai Evans, 26. The counts were two counts of second-degree murder and one count of drive-by shooting at an occupied vehicle. Law&Crime reported the same Monday convictions and said Bursey is scheduled for a hearing on Dec. 4 and for sentencing on Dec. 11. A guilty verdict is the finding on those counts. The Dec. 11 date is when the court is scheduled to impose the term.

The outlets do not agree on the day Evans was killed. KSTP's conviction story dated the shooting Sept. 16, 2024. Law&Crime dated it Nov. 4, 2024. The Pioneer Press, in a story published Nov. 7, 2024, also dated the shooting Nov. 4, 2024, in the 500 block of Front Avenue, and described Evans as a 26-year-old father of two. CBS Minnesota's first-night report said a man called 911 from the 500 block of Front Avenue around 7:30 p.m., later said he had shot the man who was assaulting him, and left in a red vehicle. The Ramsey County medical examiner identified Evans, of St. Paul, CBS Minnesota reported. Nov. 4, 2024, was a Monday. Sept. 16, 2024, was also a Monday. The contemporaneous Pioneer Press date is Nov. 4. KSTP's 2026 recap used a different Monday.

KSTP, describing charging documents, reported that Bursey told investigators the other car had cut him off "about five times" on Interstate 35, that the people in the car pointed at him and laughed, and that he followed them to a tobacco shop near Front and Dale streets, threw something at the car, and pulled over. An earlier KSTP charging story placed the argument on Interstate 35E and the shop on Dale Street, and said Evans was a passenger in a Toyota Corolla. Law&Crime, citing a complaint, reported Bursey said he was driving a Hyundai Sonata to a Lyft and Uber shift. Evans got out and punched him, KSTP reported, and Bursey then grabbed a gun and shot. Law&Crime reported the other driver said the shots came "3-5 seconds" after the punches. Bursey told investigators he fired in self-defense and did not mean to kill Evans, KSTP reported, and that he thought the other men might have been armed because they "were holding their pockets and [acting] kind of sketchy." That was his account to police. The jury's verdict is the finding on the counts.

KSTP's charging story reported that officers found a nurse giving first aid, that Evans was pronounced dead at the scene, and that an autopsy found he had been shot in the chest, forearm, and thigh. Law&Crime reported Bursey had called 911, said he had been assaulted, and had a bloody nose when officers arrived. He was 25 and of Minneapolis when he was charged, that earlier KSTP story reported. The conviction story lists him as 27. Those are the ages the station used two years apart. Monday's verdict decides the counts the jury heard. It does not set the years.