Local News

Trial Set for Accused Killers of St. Louis Father and Daughter — 2 Years Later | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

June 29, 2023

[ad_1]

click to enlarge TIM WOMBLES A memorial to Dmyah Fleming, and her father, Darrion, on Laclede Avenue.

After what one judge called “a roller coaster,” the cases against two men accused of killing a 7-year-old and her father more than two years ago have been set for trial.

This is hardly the first time that the murder cases against Javonn Nettles and Andre Anderson have been set for trial but, in a signal of increased confidence in the prosecutor’s office under Gabe Gore, court watchers expect these new trial dates to actually hold true.

Nettles and Anderson are charged with murdering a child, Dmyah Fleming, and her father, Darrion Rankin-Fleming, in January 2021 near Saint Louis University. The killing shocked the Central West End and Midtown neighborhoods as well as the city as a whole. Then-Mayor Lyda Krewson wrote on Twitter, “Absolutely heartbroken tonight over the senseless killings of these two people — especially this young child caught up in a deadly dispute among adults. … Prayers to their families.”

Police had both Nettles and Anderson arrested by May 2021, but the prosecution against them stalled and then, earlier this year, became the center of the firestorm leading up to the resignation of Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner. Prosecutors had dismissed and refiled the charges against Nettles on the eve of trial last July, a delay tactic common under Gardner.

Twice in April, the prosecutor assigned to the case, Chris Desilets, failed to show up for hearings. Then, that same month, when the Circuit Attorney’s Office tried again to drop and refile charges, Judge Michael Noble wasn’t having it.

He found there was sufficient reason to hold both Gardner and Desilets in contempt of court for their mishandling of the case. At that hearing in April, he coined the phrase “rudderless ship of chaos” to describe the prosecutor’s office under Gardner. Attorneys for Anderson and Nettles filed motions to have the cases dismissed. Gardner resigned a month later.

The purpose of today’s hearing was for Noble to rule on those motions to dismiss filed by the defense.

Nettles’ attorney Terry Niehoff argued that the Circuit Attorney’s Office had for more than two years failed to produce a significant amount of evidence in the case, including information related to search warrants, Facebook chat logs and phone records.

He conceded that the material had by now been handed over, but he thought the delay significant enough to warrant the case getting tossed out.

click to enlarge ROBERT COHEN ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Judge Michael Noble.

“The state will say we eventually did turn it over, no harm, no foul,” Niehoff told Judge Noble. “But it is a harm. It is a foul.”

Prosecutor Marvin Teer for the Circuit Attorney’s Office countered that issues related only to delays, rather than non-disclosures, were not enough to have a case thrown out.

“That’s the argument they always make,” Niehoff quipped.

Though Judge Noble conceded that the case had been on a “roller coaster,” he ultimately sided with the prosecution. While setting a trial for the two cases, he seemed to indicate that, to his mind, the Circuit Attorney’s Office has a bit more rudder and a little less chaos than it once did.

“Now that the Circuit Attorney’s Office is ramping up its staff, we can pick a date [for the trial],” he said.

Noble set Anderson to go to trial in November, Nettles the month after.

Elsewhere in the 22nd Circuit Court, another judge was more direct with his comments about the Circuit Attorney’s Office under Gore, who took over the office almost exactly one month ago.

In the courtroom of Judge Bryan Hettenbach, who also played a supporting role in the Gardner saga earlier this year, a plea hearing was held in the murder case of Brian Williams. He is accused of killing another man he was riding in a car with on Interstate 70 in May 2020.

Williams had been offered a plea deal of 15 years on the murder charge and another five on the armed criminal action count he’s facing.

The victim’s family was in court voicing opposition to the deal.

Judge Hettenbach, speaking to the victim’s brother, said he didn’t want to sway his thinking one way or the other on the deal. However he voiced confidence in the prosecutors who had negotiated with the defense.

“I’m going to the quiet part out loud,” Judge Hettenbach said. “The lawyers dealing with this case on the state’s side are better now. They know what they’re doing this time around.”

As of right now, the Williams case is set for trial in October, though a plea agreement could change that.

click to enlarge LUIMIL NEGRON A memorial to Dmyah Fleming, and her father, Darrion Rankin-Fleming has been maintained by family and friends for more than two years.

[ad_2]

Source link

Local News

Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

[ad_1]

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.

[ad_2]

Source link

Local News

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

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

[ad_1]

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.”

[ad_2]

Source link

Local News

St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

1 year ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

[ad_1]

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.”

[ad_2]

Source link