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Man was shot dead while discussing wedding plans
A north Minneapolis man was shot several times Friday in the back by his fiancee's friend, the victim's stepmother said.

James Todd Rivers was killed while outlining plans for his August wedding at a dinner with friends, said his stepmother.

On Friday evening, Rivers, 41, whom friends and family members call Todd, and his fiancée had invited friends to her house in the 3600 block of Chicago Avenue S., his stepmother, Eunice Rivers, said Sunday. Among them was a man who knew the fiancée's ex-boyfriend, Eunice Rivers said. At some point, the man got mad and shot Rivers several times in the back, she said.

"To shoot somebody in the back, he's a coward," she said of the suspect. "A total coward. He's hurt a lot of people."

Eunice Rivers said that she doesn't know why the man was angry, and that neither Rivers nor his fiancée had mentioned any bad blood with the man. The suspect is a 46-year-old Brooklyn Center man who was in police custody Sunday. Rivers originally befriended him because he was friends with Rivers' fiancée, his stepmother said.

Rivers grew up in Minneapolis and was living in north Minneapolis when he was killed. He has a 21-year-old daughter, a 5-year-old son and a 1-year-old grandson, said his stepmother. He did landscape and yard work for money and took care of his disabled uncle for free, taking him to dialysis and helping him bathe, she said.

"Todd was such a sweet guy," she said. "And he's going to be sorely missed by his whole family."

He had been dating his fiancée for six months, she said. The two had just announced their engagement about a month ago. Funeral plans were pending.

"He was a really cool guy," Eunice Rivers said. "I can't understand this."