Thomas E. Harris, 30, of Festus has been charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action for allegedly shooting and killing Dion Robinson, 26, of De Soto early Wednesday (Feb. 18), authorities report.
At 12:45 a.m., the two men were having a dispute outside Robinson’s home in the 800 block of Blow Street in De Soto, and Harris allegedly shot two rounds from a Smith and Wesson 9mm handgun at Robinson, striking him once in the left side of his body, the probable-cause statement said.
De Soto Police responded to the scene and found Robinson lying on the ground behind the home and officers began CPR, but Robinson was pronounced dead at the scene by Valle Ambulance personnel, the report said.
Two suspects were identified, and police tracked one of their cell phones to the Best Western hotel off Meramec Bottom Road in south St. Louis County, where they were taken into custody, De Soto Police reported.
Today (Feb. 19), the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed charges against one of the suspects – Harris, a convicted felon who is prohibited from having a firearm, with second-degree murder, a class A felony, and felony armed criminal action.
The murder charge carries a penalty of 10 to 30 years or life in prison, and the armed criminal action charge is punishable by a minimum of three years in prison.
De Soto Police are seeking the same charges against the other suspect, a 36-year-old Festus woman, but the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office had not filed any against her as of this evening, De Soto Police Detective Rick Draper said.
Harris was being held on a $50,000 cash-only bond at the De Soto Jail late this afternoon, awaiting transfer to the Jefferson County Jail, De Soto Police Assistant Chief Dan Contarini said.
Robinson, Harris and the Festus woman were friends, Draper said.
He would not say what the dispute was about, but said it escalated from an argument to a physical altercation, and at one point Harris had two guns, but Robinson was able to take one away and then ran to a neighbor to get help. He had dropped his cell phone during the dispute, so after going to the neighbor’s home, Robinson returned to his own home where he grabbed the phone from the Festus woman, who had picked it up. Then, he ran behind his home and waited and watched, but then was shot.