Circuit Attorney's Office

Stacy Davis Charged with Murder; Woman Overdosed, Found in Alley, Buried Under TV

Police say that Stacy Davis, a 29-year-old St. Louis man, provided Carmen Cross, 30, with heroin and cocaine, which she combined into a cocktail and injected. After the first dose, she allegedly went comatose and was only revived after she took a cold shower and had a warm saline solution injected i ... More >>

Matthew Pellegrini: In Surprise Move, Judge Rejects Plea Deal in High-Profile Shooting Case

Update below: The family of shooting victim Matthew Pellegrini received surprising news this morning when a St. Louis circuit judge rejected a plea deal that would have given the shooter seven years. This rejection, which is generally pretty rare, comes one week after seven different family member ... More >>

Sentenced: Man Who Shoved Knife into Woman, Stole Her Purse, Threw It in Dumpster

Police say that James Johnson came up behind a woman outside of a St. Louis drugstore, "shoved a knife into her lower back," and said he would kill her if she didn't give him her purse. She fought back -- but he pushed her into her car and ran away with her belongings. He then, according to the Ci ... More >>

Matthew Pellegrini: Family Testifies in Trial of Man Who Claimed Victim "Asked to be Shot"

The grieving family of Matthew Pellegrini, an eighteen-year-old who was shot point-blank in the head by someone who claimed to be his friend, will have to wait one more week to find out the fate of the accused killer. Yesterday, Judge Edward Sweeny decided to delay until next Friday the sentencing ... More >>

Man Accused of Harassing KSDK Employees: "Enjoy the Last Remaining Moments of Life"

Update below: We here at Daily RFT are no strangers to very angry readers commenting on our articles and Facebook page expressing outrage, hate, disgust, etc. But generally they don't show up in person to our office, demand to speak with us and threaten to hurt us -- and tell us we may soon face dea ... More >>

47-Year-Old Woman Found Strangled, Left in Alleyway, Police Say (St. Louis Homicide No. 27)

Update: St. Louis metro police have just released the identity of a woman who was found strangled to death in an alleyway this week. Our original coverage is below. 47-year-old Aretha Robinson, who lived on the 4500 block of Natural Bridge Avenue, is the homicide victim who was abandoned on South ... More >>

Police Tase Armed Man Climbing St. Louis Zoo Fence Near the Antelopes, Ending Wild Chase

A man running from police last night apparently decided that the St. Louis Zoo was a good place to hide. It was not. An unnamed 23-year-old male allegedly attempted to scale the fence of the zoo by the antelope enclosure last night and was finally apprehended once an officer tased him. Earlier, ... More >>

Marijuana: St. Louis Circuit Attorney Open to Reform Policy for Minor Offenses

An effort to save law enforcement resources by reducing the punishment for low-level marijuana offenses in St. Louis has received renewed attention this month -- with a metro police sergeant actively lobbying for the cause, much to the displeasure of his higher-ups. The free-speech lawsuit this fi ... More >>

25 Years for Attacker: "People Have the Right to Walk Down the Street and Not Be Strangled"

On a Sunday morning in May of 2011, Muhammed Watson approached a young woman on her way to get coffee in the Central West End. "Don't say a word," he told her as he started choking her. Eventually, she was unconscious. This is the horrific scene that St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce des ... More >>

Marijuana: St. Louis Police Sgt. Gary Wiegert is Suing Department for Suppressing His Lobbying

Sgt. Gary Wiegert of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department supports changes in local marijuana laws so that minor offenses would not needlessly drain police resources. That's why he decided to work on the side as a lobbyist for Show-Me Cannabis, a group that advocates for pot reform in Missou ... More >>

Two Men Invade St. Louis Home, Terrorize Women Twice in Two Weeks, Police Say

Ryan Hudson, 20, and an accomplice broke into a St. Louis home on January 5, forced one woman to put her face in a chair and held a gun to the head of another woman as she filled the suspects' bag with money. Then two weeks later, the same men returned to the home -- and robbed the same two women ... More >>

Michael Bryant, 17, Faces Murder Charges After His Burglary Accomplice Is Shot And Killed

Michael Bryant, 17, and Demetrius Murphy, 15, allegedly tried to break into a St. Louis home near Gravois Park in the middle of the night last week. As we reported, the burglary did not go as planned. Murphy ended up dead -- and now Bryant is facing murder charges. Police recently announced that ... More >>

MetroLink Shooting: Akira Edmonds Allegedly Shoots Acquaintance Over "Disagreement" (18)

There are new details in the fatal shooting of Charles Campbell, the 33-year-old who was found dead on the Laclede's Landing MetroLink station last week -- making him the 18th homicide of the year in the city of St. Louis. Akira Edmonds, 24, an "acquaintance" of Campbell, is now facing charges of ... More >>

St. Louis Mother Nola Miller, 30, Allegedly Stabs Her Two Children, Ages Three and Ten

Today, in awful, horrible news in St. Louis, we have for you the story of Nola Renee Miller, a 30-year-old mother, who allegedly snapped this week, stabbing her two young children -- before reportedly injuring herself. Miraculously, all three survived. What prompted such a violent act? A probabl ... More >>

Rape Charges: Timothy Gilbert, 18, Accused of Abuse, Burglary, Kidnapping In Violent Spree

In December, Timothy Gilbert, 18, broke into a private home, kidnapped a 16-year-old girl, threatened her with a knife -- and raped her. At least these are the gruesome charges that Gilbert, a Maplewood resident, is now facing, officials announced yesterday. And these are not the only allegation ... More >>

Francis Slay On Pot Prosecution: "I'm Not For Legalizing Marijuana. It Sends A Bad Message."

Francis Slay, the mayor of St. Louis, is opposed to legalizing marijuana, as two states did in the last election. Not that anyone is asking him. In response to a question from Daily RFT about the proposal at the Board of Aldermen to reduce the punishment for possession of small amounts of pot, S ... More >>

Ron Jackson, Accused Dog Shooter, Strangler: Circuit Attorney Dismisses Case (PHOTOS)

Ron Jackson, 29, shot a dog a dozen times, strangled the animal with an electric cord and dumped the helpless pet into a dumpster to die. At least those are the allegations he faced back in November after the dog -- who miraculously survived -- was found by a city sanitation worker. But despite po ... More >>

Marijuana Bill: Shane Cohn Proposes Pot Fines Go To St. Louis Mental Health Board

Government resources are wasted on overly harsh prosecutions for those caught with small amounts of marijuana -- such that the system can be unfair to those charged and unnecessarily drains law enforcement resources. This is the thinking behind Alderman Shane Cohn's proposal to lower the consequence ... More >>

St. Louis Homicide No. 15: Steven Woodson, 26, Shot; Police Chase Suspect Karlos Culberson

Steven Woodson, 26, is the latest victim of gun violence in the City of St. Louis -- and the fifteenth person lost to homicide so far this year. Officers found him dead last night -- and successfully chased down suspect Karlos Culberson on foot. Culberson, 31, was taken into custody and the Circui ... More >>

Marijuana Decriminalization Bill: How Many Cases Does St. Louis Circuit Attorney Handle?

One of the more contentious proposals making headlines this month at the St. Louis City Board of Aldermen is an initiative to decriminalize marijuana in the city -- by pushing law enforcement agencies to avoid harsh prosecutions of those caught with small amounts of pot. Some new amendments are ex ... More >>

Two Dog-Owners Charged for Nasty Dog-Neglect

It's becoming clearer every month: If you don't take care of your dog, the city's new Animal Cruelty Task Force will "take care" of you. (In a misdemeanor-charge kind of way.) A couple of gentleman have just learned that lesson. Gary Miller, a 59-year-old from the 3100 block of Fair, has been arrest ... More >>

[UPDATED] Man in Halloween Mask Robs South City Auto Zone - But Doesn't Get Far

Updated at 11:02 with a mugshot. Vernon Young II of Tower Grove East has been charged with a wild robbery that occurred Friday afternoon at Auto Zone on Gravois Avenue in South St. Louis. According to the probable cause statement, it was Young -- age 34 -- who approached the shop in Benton ... More >>

Russell Deon Anderson: St. Louis Homicide No. 32; Stabbed in the Chest

Russell Deon Anderson, a 29-year-old black man, was stabbed in the chest in the 5900 block of Hamilton Terrace in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood (above) on Thursday, April 26. Anderson had been arguing with a 41-year-old black man over personal matters just prior to the attack. Anderson was taken ... More >>

Inside an Ashen Building, a Legal Aide Adds Color

"Does that make sense?" asks Vara Lyons. "I'm trying to not sound like a cerebral art historian." She can't help herself. Lyons is a legal assistant for the Community Affairs Bureau of City of St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office. She's also a self-described art history nerd whose life has been shad ... More >>

Victim Fatally Felled By Police Bullet

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department has reported that police officers and at least one suspect exchanged gunfire over the weekend, resulting in a man's death. On Friday evening St. Louis police shot dead Jordan Walls, nineteen, of the 4900 block of Terry Avenue. In addition the police sho ... More >>

St. Louis Murder Rate on Pace With Last Year; Blacks Disproportionately Impacted

​After trending slightly higher for much of 2011, the St. Louis murder rate last week did something it hasn't done all year: pull into an exact tie with the number of people killed in 2010. Through October 27, St. Louis police categorized 103 deaths this year as homicides. The number was the exact ... More >>

Tammi Todd: Charged with Murdering Wendell Adams in His Benton Park Home w/UPDATE

Tammi Todd faces charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action.​UPDATED at 12:19 p.m. with additional information from the Circuit Attorney's Office. A 44-year-old St. Louis woman has been charged in the June 19 murder of Wendell Adams.Tammi Lynn Todd, who lives in the 100 block of Mil ... More >>

Two St. Louis Teens Charged in July Murder

Michael J. Ford (left) and Antoine Barton were charged last week with murder and armed criminal action.​Two months after the fact, authorities believe they've finally cracked the murder of 22-year-old Calvin Ross. Ross was found July 6 shot to death in an alley in north St. Louis.

A Wedding Without Pictures? Fotos 4 Life Leaves Brides Photo-Free

It's every bride's worst nightmare -- and we don't mean being stranded at the altar.Brides are livid at Jennifer McConnell and Fotos 4 Life -- with good reason, says the BBB.​We're talking about a wedding (drumroll, please!) without pictures. A wedding where, even if the photographers show up and ... More >>

John Barnes: Charged with Shooting at Police Officers in Central West End

John Barnes​Here's a follow-up to the story we reported last week when a pair of undercover police officers were fired upon in the Central West End. The Circuit Attorney's Office has charged 18-year-old John Barnes, of the 5400 block of St. Louis Avenue as one of the trigger men. Barnes is charge ... More >>

St. Louis Police Targeted in Drive-By in Central West End

The St. Louis Police Department reports that three of its officers were shot at yesterday afternoon in the Central West End. The incident occurred around 3 p.m. at the intersection of Boyle and Clayton. None of the officers were struck by bullets.Boyle as seen looking east at Clayton.​This morning ... More >>

St. Louis Police Give Their Take of Last Night's Shooting of Ervin Miller

If you haven't heard by now, St. Louis police were involved in an officer shooting last night. The incident occurred around 9:30 p.m. in the 4800 block of Farlin in north St. Louis. 4800 Farlin​

The Big Bloody: Undercover Officers Shoot, Kill Two Suspects; Three Others in Custody

This just in from the St. Louis police:Just after midnight today undercover officers saw a 2004 Dodge Ram pickup truck near the area of St. Louis Avenue and Clara. The truck had been reported stolen from St. Charles, Missouri, on 11/15/09. Undercover officers followed the vehicle and eventually depl ... More >>

Did This Mother Poison her Son for Attention?

Cops Nab Laclede Gas Scam Suspect

Guess the thief finally found one little old lady who didn't buy his faux-porno plot. Here's the press release sent out last night by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police:Around 3:30pm a citizen called 911 after a man matching the description of the suspect showed up at her door saying he was from Lacl ... More >>

Police Name Suspects in Maggie O'Brien's Murder; Confirm Thief Killed His Accomplice

Police have identified two men from Illinois as the final suspects in the slaying of bartender Michael Dolan at Maggie O'Brien's on June 1.Police provide this full account of the robbery-turned-homicide...INCIDENT:  Homicide, RobberyDATE/TIME:  6/1/09@11:42pmLOCATION:  2000 Market Str ... More >>

Thousand Dollar Baby: By day Jamie O'Hare studies for a master's in social work. Her night job is anything but.

Nothing a Few Thousand Sit-ups Wouldn't Cure

A candidate for St. Louis sheriff wants things shaped up on his watch; plus, other St. Louis follies and foibles