ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said they want federal authorities to prosecute a 16-year-old arrested after a string of carjackings and a murder.
Some St. Louis residents are on edge after a recent crime spree that left their neighbor dead. Police said 38-year-old Kay Johnson was shot to death in her car on Compton Avenue in an attempted carjacking around 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Police believe this group is connected to eight carjackings and two ATM robberies, all in a span of around 48 hours.
Johnson’s neighbors are calling for the violence to end.
“It’s sad, I even had my car stolen. I have lived around here in the city for 40 years,” said Everett Harris, a neighbor. “I have never seen anything like this. It breaks my heart to know it was my neighbor.”
On Wednesday, police caught an 18-year-old and two juveniles, ages 17 and 16, after the trio crashed a stolen car at the intersection of Delmar and North 20th Street.
Police claimed they could be responsible for a series of carjackings and attempted carjackings that occurred on Monday and Tuesday, including the fatal shooting of Kay Johnson.
Investigators are seeking the transfer of the 16-year-old juvenile into federal custody and federal prosecution for his suspected involvement.
Additionally, large warrants were issued by the Circuit Attorney’s Office against 18-year-old Cameron Brown for tampering and resisting arrest.
Meanwhile, police will continue working with federal partners, both with the newly formed task force investigating these recent incidents as well as normal day-to-day operations, in an effort to hold the most violent offenders to the highest degree of accountability afforded under the law.
The violence continued Thursday morning. Residents in south St. Louis, terrorized by the crime spree, woke up to a swat team in their neighborhood making an arrest in Mt. Pleasant. Police sources indicate it’s unrelated to the string of carjackings.