A St. Louis jury has found Khamkhay Samatmanivong, 57, of Arnold guilty of orchestrating the events that led to the fatal shooting of a St. Louis man in 2017, the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office reported.
Samatmanivong was found guilty on Thursday, Aug. 8, of second-degree murder, a class A felony; first-degree robbery, a class A felony; first-degree burglary, a class B felony; and two counts of armed criminal action, which are unclassified felonies. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 1, according to court documents.
A class A felony is punishable by 10 to 30 years or life in prison. A class B felony carries a penalty of five to 15 years in prison, and an unclassified felony is punishable by three to 15 years in prison.
Samatmanivong and two St. Louis men, Maurice Whitt and Durrell Anderson, were charged in the shooting death of Charles D. Keltz, 37, and the kidnapping of a woman. The men allegedly threatened to kill the woman before she was able to escape them and seek help, according to the case’s probable-cause statement.
“The courage and determination of the surviving victim were instrumental in bringing about justice in this case,” Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore said in a statement. “The city is safer with this criminal ringleader behind bars.”
On Nov. 23, 2017, Samatmanivong reportedly went to Keltz’s home in the 7000 block of Minnesota Avenue to find a woman he had bought cigarettes and a St. Louis Cardinals baseball hat for at a BP gas station. He also gave the woman money and told her he wanted her to be his girlfriend and live with him in his Arnold home, the probable-cause statement said.
A neighbor’s surveillance camera shows Samatmanivong making a phone call and being met by Anderson and Whitt. The three men waited outside the home, and when Keltz came out, they beat and kicked him, according to the report.
Then Whitt kicked in the front door to the residence, and at that point, Keltz was able to flee from his attackers. Keltz was pursued by Anderson, who was seen by witnesses chasing Keltz onto Quincy Street. Anderson is believed to be the man who shot Keltz, the report said.
At the home, Whitt found the woman hiding in a closet, where she had retreated when she heard yelling from outside. Whitt dragged the woman outside by her hair, according to the report.
Samatmanivong told his two associates to put the woman into his car and told the woman they were going to kill her. The woman was able to escape the BMW when it drove by Red’s Eighth Inning Bar, about a half mile from the Minnesota Avenue residence, and she ran into the bar seeking help, the report said.
Samatmanivong told authorities that he was upset with the woman because he had given her money but she “had not done what she promised to do.” He said he went to the home to get his money back and called Anderson and Whitt to help him, the report said.
Samatmanivong also said he had the woman put in his car, and he said he “did not mean for anyone to be killed,” according to the report.
Whitt told authorities Samatmanivong had called him and Anderson to help him get money back from the woman, the report said.
On March 27, 2023, Anderson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and two counts of armed criminal action. He was sentenced on July 21, 2023, to 18 years in prison for murder, 18 years for kidnapping and 10 years for each armed criminal action charge, court records show.
However, the sentences are being served concurrently, or at the same time, according to court documents.
Anderson currently is in the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre.
Whitt is still awaiting trial. He has been charged with second-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree robbery, all Class A felonies; first-degree burglary, a class B felony; and four counts of armed criminal action, which are unclassified felonies, according to court documents.
Whitt had seven prior drug convictions and was convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm and resisting arrest, court records show.
Anderson has prior assault, tampering, burglary, stealing, property damage, resisting arrest and drug charges, according to court records.