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Mishandled evidence leads to murder case dismissal

Published

2 years ago

March 17, 2023

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ST. LOUIS – Defendant Levi Henning is no longer charged with the first-degree murder of former Parkway student Carieal Doss.

FOX 2 asked the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office on March 14 why the case is not in court records. We found out the reason Thursday when we showed up to court.

We originally reported on the murder behind a Baptist church in 2020. Doss was found shot in the head on a Franklin Avenue sidewalk in April of that year. The 18-year-old student was about to graduate from Parkway West High School. FOX 2 has now learned the murder charges against the accused were dropped after allegations the Circuit Attorney’s Office failed to turn over evidence.

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“There’s only two ways that can happen; one is gross negligence,” said W. David Mueller, Henning’s attorney. “It’s willful denial of my client’s constitutional rights.”

Mueller was in court with the intention of arguing his motion to dismiss until the case was dropped. In his earlier filings, he pointed out that the state failed to disclose evidence such as at least eight witnesses, a DNA report, the victim’s Facebook messages, and friend contacts.

“I’ve identified in my brief time on this case four alternative suspects,” Mueller said. “One where there’s a fair amount of evidence against them. Three others, I believe, had contact with the deceased shortly before her death. None have never even been interviewed.”

Mueller also alleged, “On April 8, 2022, the state finally supplemented discovery for the fourth time, providing the full DNA report… and 2356 pages of Facebook records that it had in its possession since June 9, 2020.”

He said the Circuit Attorney’s Office failures may have cost the state being able to solve this crime.

“The government had within their possession before this case was even filed,” Mueller said. “Information that the deceased was in contact with individuals five blocks from where she was found. Those individuals were never interviewed. I believe that if they were interviewed, they would have found a better timeline for what happened to the deceased that day and probably could have solved this case.”

FOX 2 reached out to Doss’s mother, who said that she does not want to talk about it yet.

Henning remains in custody, as he still faces robbery charges for a separate incident from 2018.

The Circuit Attorney’s Office now says they are looking into it to give us a possible response.

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Man attacks Jeff Co. deputy with screwdriver during attempted arrest

Published

1 year ago

July 11, 2023

Natural Bridge

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JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. – Two people are behind bars after a man reportedly attacked a Jefferson County deputy with a screwdriver during an attempted arrest over the weekend.

Prosecutors have charged Nicholas Davis, 47, and Amanda Davis, 45, of Dittmer, Missouri, with felonies in the investigation.

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The alleged attack followed a traffic stop of a driver in the 9500 block of Jones Creek Road on July 7, though the driver was not Nicholas or Amanda.

According to court documents obtained by FOX 2, Nicholas reportedly came out of his nearby home, yelled at a deputy and started approaching him while holding a screwdriver. The deputy initially ordered Nicholas to back away, then used pepper spray.

Per court documents, the deputy attempted to arrest Nicholas, who then struck him in the chest with the screwdriver. Amanda reportedly approached the deputy and pulled him away from Nicholas before both ran inside their home.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says the situation prompted an hours-long standoff involving negotiators, a SWAT team and a K-9 deputy. The situation led to Nicholas refusing warnings and being bitten by a K-9.

Nicholas and Amanda are both jailed in the Jefferson County Jail without bond. Nicholas is charged with first-degree assault on a special victim and armed criminal action. Amanda is charged with resisting/interfering with arrest.

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St. Louis Public Schools superintendent to be sworn in

Published

1 year ago

July 11, 2023

Natural Bridge

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ST. LOUIS — The new St. Louis schools superintendent will be officially sworn into office today. Dr. Keisha Scarlett took over the job in July after the retirement of Dr. Kelvin Adams. She was assistant superintendent in the Seattle Public School District. The installation ceremony is at 6:15 p.m. before the regular school board meeting.

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Gas tanker crashes into St. Louis Metro transit center

Published

1 year ago

July 11, 2023

Natural Bridge

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ST. LOUIS — A gasoline tanker truck crashed into a Metro transit center near Riverview and Hall Streets early Tuesday morning and knocked over a power pole. The pole is leaning on other power lines. Police have the area blocked off here because there is a downed power line. Ameren and Metro crews are also on the scene.

The incident happened around 12:30 a.m. It’s still unclear exactly what caused the crash, but we do that there was a second vehicle somehow involved. The airbags on that second vehicle did deploy.

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Police at the scene have not been able to give us a lot of details. Metro officials tell FOX 2 that the transit center here is operating this morning for passengers and buses. Access to certain areas will be limited here as clean up unfolds.

A Metro spokesperson says half of the station isn’t being used right now because of safety issues. It isn’t impacting overall bus operations, everything is just happening on the other side of transit center.

The extent of the damage to the actual transit center is still unclear, but I’m told it does not appear to be extreme. A Metro spokesperson tells me there were no injuries to any metro workers or passengers. The tanker driver also was not injured.

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