COURTESY ST. LOUIS COUNTY POLICE
Antouine Redmon admitted killing cab driver Richard Lilie Jr., police say.
St. Louis County police have arrested a Florissant man on a charge of first-degree murder in the killing of a cab driver.
Officers responded at 1:50 a.m. Thursday for reports of a man down in the 10100 block of Bon Oak Drive in an unincorporated section of north county. There they found 47-year-old Richard Lilie Jr. of Wentzville, who was dead and appeared to have been shot, police say.
Lilie was a driver for St. Louis County Cab. After learning Lilie's identity, police investigators contacted the cab company and were able to track the last calls and location of the cab.
Three hours later, at 4:45 a.m., police found Lilie's missing 2011 Crown Victoria in the 100 block of Taney Drive, a residential neighborhood in Florissant. Officers spotted 40-year-old Antouine Redmon going through the contents of the cab's trunk and took him into custody, police say.
Redmon lives at 785 Pebble Lane in Florissant, which is where Lilie had gone on his last call. Next to the home, police discovered a bag of bloody clothes and bloody gloves, police say. A DNA test of the gloves matched Redmon and Lilie.
Investigators questioned Redmon, and he admitted to killing Lilie during an attempted robbery, police say. He was jailed without bond.
The investigation is ongoing, and police ask anyone with information to call them at 636-529-8210 or to remain anonymous and possibly collect a reward, call CrimeStoppers at 866-371-8477 (TIPS).
Ron Klein, director of the St. Louis Metropolitan Taxi Commission issued the following statement in regards to the killing:
"The Taxicab Commission is charged with making sure that public can travel by cab safely and fairly. We work for riders. But, I want to to talk a little about the cabs. Cabs are not really like rideshares. Cab drivers don't get to choose where they go or who they pick up. By regulation, a cab driver has to pick up almost anyone, anywhere. That makes driving a cab both more satisfying than doing rideshare and, sometimes, more dangerous. The companies that employ them have a variety of measures in place, not all of which I can tell you, to make the jobs as safe as possible. Sometimes, tragedies like this happen. My heart goes out to the driver's family and friends."Editor's Note: This story has been updated with additional information.
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