Man pleads guilty to randomly attacking woman’s home in St. Paul and raping her at gunpoint

A repeat offender admitted Wednesday to breaking into a St. Paul home he had targeted for a burglary in the middle of the night and raping a woman at gunpoint.

Deonte Marquon Thomas, 34, of Maplewood, pleaded guilty in Ramsey County District Court to first-degree sexual abuse and first-degree burglary in connection with the burglary and sexual assault that occurred shortly after 4 a.m. April 15 in the 300 block of S. Snelling Avenue.

The defense’s plea agreement calls for a prison sentence of just over 20 years for Thomas. Including time served in prison since his arrest, Thomas is expected to serve about 13¼ years in prison and the remainder on probation. Sentencing is scheduled for September 3.

Thomas’ criminal record in Minnesota also includes convictions for theft, receiving stolen goods, domestic violence and illegal possession of weapons.

According to the indictment:

Officers arrived at the home in the Macalester-Groveland neighborhood and found the woman sitting on the front steps. She said her attacker had fled about 10 minutes earlier. Police launched a manhunt using dogs and drones.

The woman said she was sleeping when she heard banging on the side of her house and then saw a man break down the door and enter. She said Thomas demanded money and took cash from her purse before raping and choking her at gunpoint. She screamed for her neighbors until she passed out.

At one point, she bit Thomas on the arm “as hard as she could” during a brief struggle over the gun, the complaint says.

Surveillance video from outside showed a pickup truck in the alley near the woman’s home at the time of the break-in. The license plate was visible. A police check revealed the pickup was registered to Thomas. Police showed the woman a still from a second surveillance video that showed a man entering the woman’s property. She identified him as her attacker.

After his arrest, Thomas said he “drove around in the early morning hours … randomly picking a house to break into,” the indictment says. He said he used a rock or brick to break the window of the door, got inside and unlocked the door. He admitted to robbing and raping the woman, but denied choking her.