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ST. LOUIS – A man is accused of shooting dead a 15-year-old boy who, according to investigators, backs down in front of him, hands raised in the first criminal lawsuit filed after a series of killings on children in St. Louis who have drawn attention to gun violence in Missouri.
Joseph Renick, 54, was sentenced on Thursday for first degree murder, armed criminal action and illegal possession of a firearm in the death of Sentonio Cox. No lawyer is listed for him in the online court record.
Sentonio is the last of at least 13 children killed by a fire in St. Louis this year. The mayor has asked for changes to the firearms legislation and asked hundreds of people to go to a public meeting on Wednesday. Renick is white and Sentonio, as most child victims, if not all, are black. Officials did not immediately indicate whether they suspected the breed was playing.
The Black Legislative Black Caucus of Missouri has called on lawmakers to tackle gun violence in St. Louis and Kansas City during an extraordinary legislative session slated for September, but Missouri Governor Mike Parson, rejected the request this week. In the meantime, Kansas City officials have approved two orders to protect miners' firearms.
At a press conference in St. Louis on Friday, religious and community leaders in St. Louis urged Parson to take action to combat gun violence. They asked the governor to call a special session to allow municipalities to enact their own firearms laws; put in place emergency funding of at least $ 2 million by the state for anti – violence programs; and convene an emergency meeting of community leaders prior to the veto session.
A police inspector from St. Louis wrote in the statement of probable cause of Renick's arrest that Sentonio was moving away from Renick, his hands up on Sunday morning, when Renick shot him in the head. According to the statement, Renick had already been convicted of non-payment of alimony, but did not provide any further information on what led to the shooting. The Missouri law does not allow persons convicted of a crime to possess firearms.
Susan Ryan, a spokesperson for St. Louis Circuit counsel Kim Gardner, said she could not comment beyond the content of the document. She says that the investigation is underway.
Sentonio's mother, Roxzyanna Edwards, who lost another son as a result of gun violence, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper earlier this week, claiming that she had gone after Sentonio after her nephew woke her up. He told her that the two men were walking home when they heard gunshots. His nephew ran, then realized that Sentonio was not with him.
"I found my baby lying on his stomach, shot in the head," Edwards said. "It was really dark, but the sunlight appeared. God showed me that he was right next to me.
Meanwhile, Gardner was criticized on social media for failing to blame Malik Ross, 23, for the murder of Xavier Usanga, 7, earlier this month, while he was playing in the garden with her sisters. Federal prosecutors said Ross had stolen $ 50,000 from his employer as part of a city escape plan, believing himself responsible for the shooting.
At a federal court hearing held on Tuesday to determine whether Ross would remain behind bars until holding a lawsuit for theft, police detective John Anderson said that Ross had called his aunt after the August 12 shooting. Ross told his aunt that he had "killed this boy" and that he needed help to get out of the city, Anderson said. Ross told police that he did not want to shoot Xavier and never saw him, Anderson said. He saw someone on the nearby porch with a gun and heard a shot, Anderson said, adding, "It was them or me" at some point during the day. # 39; interrogation.
Gardner said Thursday in a statement that his office is "unable to determine who is legally responsible for Xavier's death." She added that her office had asked the police to investigate further.
Federal Public Defender Bevy Beimdiek, Ross' lawyer, declined to comment on Thursday.
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