Latest Porch-Related StL Shooting

STLtoday – In StL’s latest homicide, man shot on Emerson

A 28-year-old man was shot to death Tuesday night in the 5000 block of Emerson Avenue, St. Louis police say.

…

Police say Bradley had been near the back porch of a home when there was a confrontation with someone.

This is one reason why I love my privacy fence so much. It makes me harder to aim at when I sit on my deck.

StL – Parole Absconder killed in collision during gun battle

STLtoday – Man killed in collision during gun battle
By Kim Bell – ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

St. Louis — A gunman who forced his way into a car to escape armed pursuers was killed in a traffic crash during a running gunbattle late Wednesday, police said.

Richard Joy, 37, of the 1200 block of South 11th Street, died at the scene about 11 p.m., after being thrown from a car at Hebert and Parnell streets.

Police said Joy was riding in a Chevrolet Malibu that sped through a stop sign and collided with a van at that intersection. Officers found a .40-caliber gun on the ground a few feet from the wreckage.

Police said the 33-year-old driver of the Malibu told them Joy had jumped into his car at a BP gas station at 1235 North Grand Boulevard and ordered him to drive.

The motorist said Joy was being chased by three men in a dark-colored, four-door vehicle that continued to pursue them, firing shots. He said Joy was returning fire until the collision.

The driver of the Malibu was examined at a hospital and held by police on six city probation violations and a federal probation violation. Police withheld his identity.

The van driver, 27, was treated for unspecified injuries. The shooters in the dark-colored vehicle remained at large.

Joy was a parole absconder wanted by the Missouri Division of Probation and Parole. In December 2004, he pleaded guilty in St. Louis of burglary and robbery and was sentenced to seven years in prison, according to court records. He was paroled in October 2006 but was declared a parole absconder in February.

Joy’s sister-in-law, Joanne Lax, said Thursday he was the youngest of 11 children and leaves behind three children, 16, 4 and 9 months. She said he had been unable to find work since his release from prison, and that his extended family was helping support him.

Best phrase in this article = “parole absconder”  – which I think I am going to incorporate into a lot of my insults from now on.

Also, I know I live in a very violent city, and in a pretty shady part of it. But I NEVER see shit like this happening. I have no idea how I would react if I was tooling down the road and suddenly found myself in the middle of a raging gun battle. I would probably think they were filming a movie and I was an unwilling extra.

Also, chances of this guy just jumping into a car driven by a guy with “six city probation violations and a federal probation violation” are… well, actually pretty good in that part of town.

Three Shot in StL Last Night

STLtoday – 3 shot in night of violence for StL

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH – 06/06/2008

A motorist was shot and critically wounded early today in St. Louis, the last of three shootings in a three-hour period.

The driver, 19, was being fired upon near Wells and Arlington avenues about 3 a.m. today. He was shot several times before crashing his car. The young man is expected to die, and St. Louis homicide detectives were called in.

After being hit, the driver struck a parked car in the 5000 block of Martin Luther King Drive and overturned. A girl, 14, was riding with him. She was injured in the crash. Her name and injuries were not disclosed.

St. Louis police say two other men were shot in separate shootings. About 12:30 a.m., a man got in a dispute with a neighbor and was shot in the chest in the 1200 block of Amherst Place. Police say he was critically wounded. That neighbor was arrested for assault.

At 2:10 a.m., a man standing in the 2000 block of Obear Street was shot by someone in a white Chevy. No words on any arrests.

OK here’s the thing – or, one of the things, at least. If I have a 14 year old daughter and she’s out at 3 a.m. riding around in the ghetto with a 19 year old, I have committed a massive FAIL in parenting. This is why I suggest that no one have children, they do the wackiest things.

Also I have to fault “shot in separate shootings” as a proper journalistic sentence. Shot in separate incidents, maybe. But this redundancy makes me wonder what they assume we will think. That they were shot in separate stabbings? Shot in separate square-dancing competitions?

Porch-Shooting Season Opens with a Bang

STLtoday – StL County man, 25, slain on porch
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
05/21/2008

ST. LOUIS — A 25-year-old St. Louis County man was killed Tuesday evening after being shot while sitting on a front porch in the city, police said today.

Jeffery Hughes, of the 10000 block of Durness Drive in north St. Louis County, was shot just before 10 p.m., police said. He died after being shot once in the upper left shoulder, police said.

Police said that Hughes had been sitting on the porch in the 5700 block of Era Avenue in the Walnut Park West neighborhood when witnesses say two men walked from a gangway and began firing shots.

Police were called to the home at 9:58 p.m. Tuesday. Detectives were given sketchy details of the suspects: “Two black males wearing dark clothing.”

The murder is under investigation by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Departments homicide detectives.

It’s Amazing

…what a few days of decent weather and copious amounts of sleep can do for one’s mood. I didn’t get out today but I laundered, I vacuumed, I napped, I COOKED, even. Involving pans (multiple) and fresh ingredients! I had the windows open, I walked around the back yard. I snorgled puppies, I didn’t have to clean up any poop in the house. I wore shorts! Life is good.

For this moment in time with wet hair and a tummy full of Pad Thai and clean laundry and sweet-smelling carpets, life is good.

Now, wintry mix is apparently imminent, but maybe they’re wrong about that – who knows? The one thing I am worried about is the “2 days of good weather” effect on the crime rate. Because you know my theory – all these thugs and shitheads have been cooped up for months and then last night it was nice and they got out mixing with each other. Fun right? But then they will inevitably start fighting. Now, if it’s only one day of good weather then that’s the end of it. But tonight’s promised rain did not materialize. If it stays clear through the prime shooting hours of 1-5 a.m. then the peeps with guns (everyone) will go find whoever pissed them off last night and shoot them – maybe right in the apartments, even. I am just saying it’s not going to be a good night to be on your front porch, or sitting in a car idling in front of your own house.

Will be interesting to read the overnight death count in tomorrow morning’s paper.

The Down Side to Better Weather

More front-porch shootings.

I think if there’s one thing I’ve learned from all of this it’s that one should never sit

A) on a front porch
B) in a parked car in front of a home (especially one’s own home)

If you’re home, get inside seems to be wisest course of action. Also, we’ve got another case of someone being shot in the block, and I am telling you – that shit stings.

ST. LOUIS: Police seek suspects in 3 separate killings
02/28/2008

Police were searching Wednesday for the killers in separate shootings, all within a few miles of each other, that have left three people dead since Monday.

Witnesses told police that George D. Lathon Jr., 21, of the 10000 block of Count Drive, was visiting a home in the 5800 block of Lotus Avenue early Wednesday when he argued with another man. He and the man struggled, and the man shot Lathon, who later died. The shooter had not been arrested as of late Wednesday, police said.

Also on Wednesday, police identified two men fatally shot within 20 minutes Monday night. Edmund Mack, 29, of the 5200 block of Lotus Avenue, was shot to death on the front porch of a home in that block about 8:10 p.m. Monday.

About 8:30 p.m., Deandre Hogans, 28, was fatally shot in the 4900 block of Rosalie Street in St. Louis. Hogans lived in the 4600 block of St. Ferdinand.

Police say they do not believe the shootings are related.

Today’s Most Nauseating Story (so far)

Teens accused of beating disabled woman – Yahoo! News

CINCINNATI – Two teenagers hid overnight in a house and spent more than six hours torturing a disabled woman after her mother left in the morning, authorities said.
Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said the teenage boy and girl tied up the 18-year-old woman, clubbed her, kicked her, shaved her head and soaked her with water before making her walk barefoot outside in the snow.

They also ignored pleas from the woman, who had undergone brain surgery, not to hit her in the head, investigators said.

“This is one of the worst crimes I’ve ever seen,” Jones said Monday. “They are sick animals, apparently just doing this for kicks and no other reason.”

Cheyenne Blanton, 17, and Joseph Nagle, 16, both of Hamilton, were arraigned Monday on juvenile delinquency charges that include aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, felonious assault and vandalism, according to juvenile court officials.

Teen’s murder on Euclid caps wildly violent day

“Wildly violent.” Does that remind anyone else of that first episode of Reno 911 in which Dangle calls Trudy’s comments about the donut-taker “wildly inappropriate“?

Teen’s murder on Euclid caps wildly violent day

St. Louis police this morning are releasing the name of the city’s latest homicide victim — but few other details.Douye Uge, 17, was shot in the neck about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 2400 block of North Euclid Avenue.

He had been standing in a gangway, between two houses, when someone standing nearby opened fire. …

Homicide detectives this morning said the case is considered wide open, with no suspects.

Hours before Uge was shot, police were handling the fatal shooting of an 80-year-old woman who was driving home in her Mazda on Sarah Street* near St. Louis Avenue. The victim, Julia Steele, was shot about 3:50 p.m. Wednesday. She lived in the 3100 block of Taylor Avenue.

Steele was driving home from a casino when she was the apparent innocent victim of a drive-by shooting. Someone inside a gold Dodge Intrepid opened fire. A man, 18, standing near the intersection of Sarah and St. Louis avenues was shot in the right leg. Another man, 66, was shot in the back. A third man, 26, was also shot but details on his injuries weren’t clear.

After Steele was fatally shot, she lost control of her car and rammed two cars parked in front of 4130 St. Louis Avenue.

Technically, after she was fatally shot SHE didn’t “lose control” of anything. Her car “careened” out of control, perhaps. But it’s hard to lose (or maintain) control of anything when you’re dead.

*I drive up and down this street almost every day

Missouri is top-ranked for black killing rate

Another top-ranking for St. Louis!

This is the perfect accompaniment to our position as #1 in syphilis and gonorrhea infection rates!

Missouri is top-ranked for black killing rate

Missouri has the highest homicide rate for blacks in the nation, a study of FBI statistics by a gun control advocacy group says.Violence Policy Center’s review of 2005 statistics, the latest available for the study, show Missouri with a homicide rate for blacks that is nearly twice that for blacks nationwide. The vast majority of those deaths, in Missouri and nationally, were from gun violence, and most of the victims were black males.

According to the study, there were 229 black homicide victims in Missouri in 2005, for a rate of 32.79 per 100,000 black residents. The rate for blacks nationally was 18.84 per 100,000. The homicide rate for whites nationally was just 2.99 per 100,000.

I guess the smell finally got to him

Or else he’d listened to Bill O’Reilly and was convinced they didn’t exist.

Homeless Shelter Worker Attacks Two With Chainsaw

“One of our staff members apparently had a mental breakdown — I guess you could say he went ballistic,” said Tom Branham, an employee of the St. Louis branch who was in New Bloomfield to help with sound for the center’s upcoming Freedom Festival. “First he was running around poking people — he poked a guy in the neck with, I think, a pencil — then he came after people with a chain saw*.”

*Ummm, that’s quite a leap to make, I think, from “poke you in the neck with a pencil” to “Going seriously Michael Myers on your ass.”

Bonus Points that he’s also a Pastor

Southwest Missouri mayor charged in Internet child sex sting
ASSOCIATED PRESS
01/14/2008

DIAMOND, Mo. — A small-town mayor is in jail in Newton County on four counts of soliciting sex over the Internet from a police detective posing as a 13-year-old girl.

Police said 62-year-old Allen Kauffman was arrested Friday and remains in jail on $50,000 bond.

Kauffman is the mayor of Collins, a town of about 200 people in St. Clair County about 50 miles northwest of Springfield.

Police said Kauffman was arrested after an investigation by police in Diamond in Newton County.

Court records show Kauffman did not have an attorney as of Monday morning. A phone message left at his home was not immediately returned.

Diamond police said Kauffman is married and serves as a pastor of the Temple Lot Church in Collins.

Well, that’s one substitue for boozing it up, I guess

Two Charged With Sexual Assault Of Girl – News- msnbc.com
WPTZ-TV
12:07 a.m. EST January 12, 2008

BURLINGTON, Vt. – A Vermont couple was in court Friday for a bail hearing, accused of sexually assaulting the woman’s young daughter repeatedly. Stacey Parnitzke, 40, allegedly abused her own daughter and forced her to have sex with men she brought home from Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Court papers said the allegations happened both in Vermont and in England.

Woman accused in drug-related death of fetus may be pregnant again

Woman accused in drug-related death of fetus may be pregnant again
01/12/2008

St. Louis County — A woman accused of involuntary manslaughter for using drugs before delivering a stillborn baby in 2006 allegedly tested positive this week at the St. Louis County jail for pregnancy and for methamphetamine usage.

The test results prompted a judge at the request of authorities to set up a series of special conditions of bond for [the defendent], 27, of south St. Louis County.

[The defendent's] attorney, Terry Flanagan, said [she] posted $25,000 bond Friday and moved in with her parents in Arnold, one of the conditions set down in an order by Judge Colleen Dolan.

Ummm, yeah. Because living in her parent’s household obviously did her such good the first time around. And Arnold’s not like, meth-mecca.

This whole case makes me EXTREMELY uncomfortable. The fact that her name and mugshot are plastered all over the paper, the “special conditions” for her bond, all of it. In the meantime, further proof that a fetus is worth more than an actual child:

Judge sentences U. City man to 7 years for rape of 13-year-old girl
01/12/2008

UNIVERSITY CITY — A 19-year-old man was sentenced Friday to seven years in prison for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old neighbor in May at her home in University City.

Although, in terms of victim impact statements, I don’t know that I’d have gone with this:

“the [victim's] great aunt said: “He has disrespected our family. There has been nothing this devastating in our family in generations.”

Disrespected? Is she implying that her family’s honor is now impugned or something? Since when did rape become about “respect” or lack thereof? Outside the Muslim world, anyway?

And as far as child-rapist self-defense goes:

Under questioning by the judge, Webb said he knew the victim was only 13 but couldn’t give a clear answer to Vincent on why he sexually assaulted her. “I really wasn’t thinking at the time,” he said.

St. Louis a lot safer, City says

St. Louis a lot safer, City says

Crimes against persons were down in every category except murder. It rose by nine, to 138, the most since 2001.

yeah, I mean, only those murders are up, a 7-year high. But otherwise it’s way, way safer. /nods

I would have sworn I heard a third one

This says two dead, neither of them in my ‘hood, but I would have sworn I heard 5-6 shots, in rapid succession, around 1:40 a.m.

Hmmm. Maybe they missed.

Two dead in overnight shootings in St. Louis
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
12/31/2007

Two men were shot to death in separate incidents overnight in St. Louis, police said.

The first slaying happened about 11: 40 p.m. Sunday in the 3700 block of Michigan, St. Louis police said. James Lindsay, 42, of the 7000 block of Michigan, was found shot to death. Police said no other details were immediately available.

In the second shooting, an unidentified man was found shot to death in an alley in the 4300 block of Lee in north St. Louis shortly before 2 a.m. this morning. The man was dead at the scene.

Detectives were investigating both shootings.

In other STL news:

We’ve been ranked No. 6 among the “Top Ten Most Literate Cities“. It’s therefore surprising to me that people don’t read more about how to use condoms, and how it’s not nice to shoot people.