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Kim Gardner Resigns | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

May 5, 2023

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click to enlarge POOL PHOTO BY DAVID CARSON, ST. LOUIS POST DISPATCH Kim Gardner in court.
This afternoon, Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner announced her resignation, sparing herself and the city of St. Louis a grueling summer.Gardner wrote that it is with “a heavy heart but a steadfast resolve” that she is resigning her position effective June 1. Gardner has been the circuit attorney since 2016.”Unfortunately since the time I took office, as the first Black female prosecutor in the state, people outside the city have targeted me to advance their own goals,” her statement continued.Her resignation letter, addressed to Governor Mike Parson, referenced the current efforts in Jefferson City to strip her of power. “I can absorb those attacks, and I have. But I can neither enable nor allow the outright disenfranchisement of the people of the City of St. Louis, nor can I allow these outsiders to effectively shut down our important work,” she wrote. “If not for these two things, I would continue to fight tirelessly to maintain the job you selected me to serve.”This resignation comes on the heels of yesterday’s RFT story that broke news that as her office collapses, Gardner has been pursuing an advanced nursing degree at Saint Louis University, possibly running afoul of state law which requires circuit attorneys to “devote their entire time and energy to the discharge of their official duties.” Gardner’s base of support had been steadily eroding since late February when 21-year-old Daniel Riley caused a car crash that left multi-sport athlete Janae Edmondson, 17, pinned between two cars. Both of her legs have since been amputated. The public, already angry over the ongoing scourge of traffic violence, focused their ire on Gardner after it was revealed that Riley had been free on bond pending an armed robbery trial despite violating the terms of his bond more than 50 times.The last week in February, Mayor Tishaura Jones said that Gardner, “really needs to do some soul-searching as to whether she wants to continue as circuit attorney because she’s lost the trust of the people.”That same week, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a quo warranto petition in St. Louis City Circuit Court, seeking to remove Gardner from office.The 10 weeks since have been packed with more scandal for Gardner than many politicians suffer in the course of an entire term. Gardner initially blamed Judge Bryan Hettenbach for Riley being free on bail and held a press conference in which her supporters shouted down reporters. On the heels of the initial quo warranto petition, Bailey filed a much more detailed, 120-page amended petition in the removal proceeding, outlining a litany of errors on the part of Gardner, including allegations that her malfeasance led to the dismissal or bungled prosecution of more than 10,000 cases. He also alleged her office didn’t disclose evidence to defense attorneys, failed to communicate with victims and victims’ families and regularly violated defendants’ rights to speedy trials. In early March, Gardner’s chief trial assistant Marvin Teer parted ways with the office. Teer is a former judge who was brought on to stabilize the office.He’d won a conviction in the high-profile case of Stephan Cannon, found guilty of killing former police officer David Dorn. His departure marked the beginning of a trend as most of the attorneys who carried out the day-to-day work of the office left in the following weeks. Prosecutors in the office had been long overburdened, and throughout March and April every time a prosecutor left the office, the workload on those remaining increased further, making an already untenable job impossible. Assistant Circuit Attorney Natalia Ogurkiewicz penned a blistering letter on her way out of the office, saying that it would be tantamount to malpractice to remain. Another assistant circuit attorney, prior to leaving the office, publicly mulled a run against his then-boss. Criminal defense attorney David Mueller announced run against Gardner in early April, motivated by outrage over what he said was Gardner’s office waiting years to disclose exculpatory evidence that proved one of his client’s innocence.Also in April, the tension between Gardner and the judges of the 22nd Circuit burst into open conflict.Monday, April 17, was supposed to be the first day of the murder trial of 18-year-old Jonathon Jones, but no one from the prosecutor’s office showed up. Judge Scott Millikan threatened to hold Gardner or someone else from her office in criminal contempt of court for the no show. Gardner blamed Assistant Circuit attorney Alex Polta, who appeared before Judge Millikan and was contrite, though he pointed out that he was on approved medical leave at the time of the missed trial setting and the office provided no one to cover. The judge did not hold anyone in criminal contempt. The same could not be said a week later when a similar scenario played out on the first day of a different murder trial. This time it was assistant circuit attorney Chris Desilets who didn’t show up on the first day for the trial of the high profile double murder of a 7-year-old girl and her father. The judge in that case, Michael Noble, found there was ample reason to pursue criminal contempt charges against Desilets and Gardner. Polta and Desilets resigned. Garder then found herself facing the specter of criminal contempt charges in addition to the attorney general’s attempts to remove her. Judge Noble, in announcing the contempt charges, called her office “a rudderless ship of chaos.” The chaos was on full display yesterday in the murder trial of Dejuan Allen, accused of murdering 19-year-old Kendrick Woods. The trial ended in a hung jury. A juror in the trial told KSDK that prosecutor Sai Chigurupati “looked very nervous the whole time. It was just terrible.” Chigurupati is the sole remaining prosecutor in the office’s Violent Crimes Unit.The defendant, Allen, 23, was returned to the jail where he has already sat, presumed innocent, for five years. On Tuesday, the judge overseeing the quo warranto process ruled that he would allow most of Bailey’s allegations against Gardner to proceed to trial. It was also reported this week that the state auditor had announced publicly he’d be looking into Gardner’s office’s finances. “Her office appears on the brink of collapse,” Bailey said yesterday, echoing the words of Judge Booker Shaw from an April hearing in the quo warranto proceeding. After a tense Thursday filled with speculation and media posted outside her office downtown, Gardner’s spokesperson sent out the resignation letter a little before 4 p.m.”The most powerful weapon I have to fight back against these outsiders stealing your voices and your rights is to step back,” her letter said. “I took this job to serve the people of the City of St. Louis, and that’s still my North star.”We welcome tips and feedback. Email the author at [email protected] or follow on Twitter at @RyanWKrull. Coming soon: Riverfront Times Daily newsletter. We’ll send you a handful of interesting St. Louis stories every morning. Subscribe now to not miss a thing.Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

1 year ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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