Tag: St Louis
A Missouri teacher is accused of hiring a hitman to kill a 10-year-old boy he allegedly molested
Deonte Taylor, 36, and his boyfriend Michael Johnson, 66, pleaded not guilty to multiple charges in a St. Louis court on Wednesday, KSDK reported.
Taylor was busted in November after his DNA was found to match samples found on his former student.
He’s facing three charges of first-degree statutory sodomy related to the accusation that he took the then-7-year-old boy from class at an elementary school where he worked as a teacher’s assistant in 2015, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Court papers said he took the boy to another room, where the boy performed oral sex on him, KSDK reported.
The boy reported the alleged attack right away, but the investigation lingered after the detective on the case left the department, and charges were not immediately filed.
In the meantime, Taylor got his teaching certificate, and was hired as a teacher by a different school district. He passed a series of background checks despite the open case in his prior district, and was working at a different elementary school when he was arrested, the station reported. That district alerted families about the accusations at Taylor’s former school after he was nabbed.
Investigators said in February, Taylor met a fellow inmate and arranged to have him kill the boy — and his mother — when that inmate was released. The man instead became a confidential informant for the police, the outlet reported.
Meanwhile, Taylor then talked to Johnson, whom he lived with before he was busted, and allegedly convinced Johnson to pay for the hit, the station reported. Court papers say Johnson paid the man.
Taylor and Johnson were charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder and two counts of attempting to tamper with a victim in a felony prosecution.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/04/20/teacher-accused-of-hiring-hitman-on-student-he-allegedly-molested/
St. Louis Gas Station Clerk Allegedly Fatally Shot Customer Over $1 Bag of Candy; Victim Didn’t Steal
A 39-year-old gas station clerk has been charged after he allegedly shot and killed a person he thought had taken a bag of candy from his store in St. Louis.
The shooting occurred Sept. 26 at a gas station in the 2800 block of N. Florissant Avenue, according to court documents obtained by KTLA sister station KTVI in St. Louis.
The victim, Christopher Simmons, was a customer at the gas station when he got into an argument with the store clerk, identified as Taleb Rebhi Ali Jawher.
Jawher accused Simmons of stealing a bag of candy worth approximately $1.10 and pointed a handgun at him, prosecutors say. Simmons then left the store. Jawher followed him outside and allegedly shot Simmons in the back of the head.
Simmons did not steal or leave the store with the candy, police said.
“We’re just trying to find some peace,” Simmons’ mother, Dorothy Simmons, told the St. Louis Post Dispatch. “He was a wonderful young man who was taken from us too soon.”
Jawher has been charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action, according to the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office.
via: http://ktla.com/2017/10/18/clerk-accused-of-shooting-man-to-death-over-1-bag-of-gas-station-candy/
St. Louis protesters hold ‘White Allies Only’ rally
Protesters chanting “white silence is violence” marched through downtown St. Louis Thursday night for a “White Allies Only” rally in the wake of the acquittal of a white police officer for fatally shooting a black man.
Organizers of the march said that people of many races were angry about the acquittal of officer Jason Stockley, in addition to being upset about the treatment of African Americans in the city.
Protesters marched near Busch Stadium as 50,000 fans filed into the venue where “Piano Man” Billy Joel performed his popular ballads.
Demonstrators outside complained about segregation in the city.
“When you look at the history of St. Louis, the racial divide is very intentional,” Jennifer Sherer said while holding a “black lives matter” sign.
The protest is the latest of several since last Friday, when a judge acquitted former police officer Stockley, who is white, in the 2011 shooting death of 24-year-old Anthony Lamar Smith.
via: http://nypost.com/2017/09/21/st-louis-protesters-hold-white-allies-only-rally/
St. Louis Boy, 6, Makes Emotional Plea to End Gun Violence: ‘People Need to Stop Killing Each Other’
He’s eloquent, passionate and powerful. And he’s only 6 years old.
Jeffrey Laney of St. Louis apparently has had it up to here with the violence that he’s seen in the city.
So he’s talking about it — his frustrations and his fears — in a four-minute video that his mom posted to Facebook Live last week. Since then it’s been viewed more than 130,000 times.
“People need to stop killing each other around here because this is just making me feel bad,” Jeffrey says in the video, while standing in what appears to be a kitchen.
“I’m really serious. I’m really scared to die, and I’m really scared for my family to die. I’m scared.”
Jeffrey’s mother, Leanndra Cheatham, tells CNN the conversation that sparked his video speech was an upcoming event by James Clark, a local activist who does community outreach in St. Louis.
The violence has hit close to home for Cheatham’s family, too. She says her 16-year-old cousin was shot to death outside of his school last month.
Cheatham never imagined this video of her son would go viral.
“I post plenty of videos of him,” she said. “I never thought this could’ve happened.”
‘Gotta value life’
Cheatham thinks “it’s a little disturbing” that her son is so aware of what’s going on in St. Louis. She wants him to be able to just be a child.
“I’m a kid, and I don’t supposed to be knowing all of this stuff,” Jeffrey says in the video. “I don’t supposed to be knowing about all of these guns.”
But Cheatham says that Jeffrey sees the news and has been part of local events where gun violence is a topic.
If the video “changes the mind of a few or even if it’s just one person,” she considers that “a job well done.”
“We gotta value life,” she said.
Cheatham also says Jeffrey is excited about the video being so widely seen.
“He said, ‘Mommy, we’re going to get people to stop killing each other.’”
To this, Cheatham replied: “I believe you, son.”
VIDEO HERE:
Couple arrested after toddler dies from ‘wrestling moves’
ST. LOUIS — A 2-year-old Missouri girl died after her mom’s boyfriend injured the toddler using “wrestling moves” that included picking her up and slamming her on the ground, authorities said Tuesday.
Richard Gamache Jr., 24, of House Springs, was charged Tuesday with abuse or neglect of a child resulting in death. His girlfriend, 19-year Cheyenne Cook, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
Jefferson County Sheriff David Marshak said detectives found “digital data” exchanged between Gamache and Cook that documented the abuse, including communications related to concealing it.
“This child was essentially tortured,” Marshak said in a news release.
Detectives determined that one of the moves Gamache used involved picking up the girl by her waist, lifting her above his shoulders and throwing her onto the ground.
The alleged abuse was discovered after the girl had a seizure on May 16, Marshak said. The child, identified only by her initials “AC,” was taken to a hospital and died three days later.
Gamache was originally charged last week with abuse and neglect of a child. The charge was upgraded after the girl’s death.
Gamache is jailed on $500,000 cash-only bond and does not yet have a listed attorney who could comment on the allegations.
via: http://nypost.com/2017/05/23/couple-arrested-after-toddler-dies-from-wrestling-moves/
Fake Craigslist movers steal everything from St. Louis County couple
ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI) – A St. Louis County couple used Craigslist to hire a company to help them move to Charlotte, NC. Police say the men loaded their belongings into a U-Haul truck, got paid, and then stole everything.
The victim hired Robinson Moving LLC after seeing an ad posted to Craigslist. Three movers showed up at his home at the 1200 block of Pinecrest Lane on on July 25, 2015. He paid one of the men $1,100 in cash to for the move. Another $300 was to be paid upon delivery.
The three men loaded the household items of the victim and his wife into the truck and drove away. The couple later received a phone call from the driver of the truck. He said they needed to load the property onto a different truck but delivery was still expected as scheduled.
Police say that after the victim and his wife flew to Charlotte they received another phone call from the driver. He said the truck was experiencing mechanical problems and was stopped on the highway near their new home.
That is the last time the victim and his wife heard from the movers. The property was never delivered to the victim’s new home. The Craigslist ad, to which the couple had initially responded, was taken down.
The victim estimates the value of the property taken from his home to be nearly $30,000.
Police have identified a suspect in this case based on the phone number in the Craigslist ad. Deandre Robinson, 33, was identified by the victim in a photo lineup as, “The man that seemed in charge.”
Robinson was arrested several months later. He is no longer in police custody. He is facing felony stealing charges.
via: http://fox2now.com/2015/12/28/fake-craigslist-movers-steal-everything-from-st-louis-county-couple/