ST. LOUIS — A teenage boy pleaded guilty in juvenile court Monday to shooting at police while trying to flee in a stolen vehicle.
Moments before the plea, Judge Barbara T. Peeples agreed with a juvenile officer’s request not to certify the 17-year-old as an adult. Instead, Peeples ordered him committed to the Missouri Department of Social Services’ Division of Youth Services until he turns 18.
“This is a very serious matter,†testified deputy juvenile Officer David Gaither. But, he added: “He has the potential to make changes ... and do something more positive for himself.â€
This teenager shot at ºüÀêÊÓƵ police Officers Ryan Malone and Christian Blouin-Weers on Sept. 25, 2022, according to court records. It’s unclear where the incident happened in the city.
Gaither testified that the boy had 21 prior referrals to the juvenile court system, mainly in ºüÀêÊÓƵ County, where he’d received numerous services. He’d previously been committed to youth services and escaped from the Hogan Street Regional Youth Center, a secure facility in Old North ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
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The ºüÀêÊÓƵ Metropolitan Police Department declined to comment on the outcome of the case.
The boy is not being identified in this story because he is a juvenile. The Post-Dispatch was allowed access to the hearing at ºüÀêÊÓƵ City Family Court, 920 North Vandeventer Avenue, because his offenses include Class A felonies.
According to court records, the boy’s father is in state prison in Farmington. His mother, who attended the hearing via Zoom, lives in Florissant. Testimony indicated that the boy’s mother and grandmother struggled to control him.
While his record is extensive, Gaither testified the boy was emotionally immature and doesn’t have a pattern of assaultive behavior. Gaither testified that the boy said he was committed to trying to behave better.
The boy had been held at the city’s juvenile detention center, which is part of the family court campus, since the shooting incident on Sept. 25, 2022. Now that he’s being turned over to state authorities until he’s 18, youth services will determine the most appropriate placement and program services for him.
Gaither testified that it would be the boy’s “last shot at being a juvenile†before he becomes an adult on Nov. 2.
A similar but separate case recently caught the region’s attention when someone in a fleeing vehicle fired in the direction of police officers in a City Foundry STL parking lot. Three teens were apprehended, including two who had guns.