ST. LOUIS — A man from St. Louis who was going to stand trial next week for killing someone outside a St. Louis liquor store in 2021 has reached a deal with prosecutors and will spend eight years in jail.
Demetrius Branom, 37, pled guilty to manslaughter and having a gun without a permit. As part of Branom’s plea deal, a second-degree murder charge was changed to unintentional manslaughter, and a count of armed criminal action was dropped.
Kori Young, 43, died after Branom shot him on September 12, 2021, in front of a liquor store on North Florissant Avenue.
The shooting happened in the Hyde Park neighborhood of St. Louis. Police said in court records that Branom and Young had known each other for a long time and had a “longstanding dispute over family issues and money owed between them.”
According to court records, after Young punched Branom in the parking lot, Branom asked a friend for a gun and shot Young several times while chasing him into the store.
Surveillance cameras caught the killing on film, the charges said. In 2009, Branom was found guilty of unintentional manslaughter and armed criminal action in St. Louis Circuit Court.