Shanyka Fouche, 25, of Memphis, Tenn., has been sentenced to 11 years in prison after a jury found her guilty of several felonies stemming from an incident in 2021 when she fired a gun from a vehicle on I-55 north of Pevely, striking a vehicle and the passenger in that other vehicle, according to court documents.
Jefferson County Div. 1 Circuit Judge Joseph Rathert sentenced Fouche on July 10. A Jefferson County jury found her guilty on Jan. 11 of two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon, four counts of second-degree child endangerment and one count of first-degree child endangerment.
Courtney Goodwin, the assistant prosecutor who handled the case for the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, had asked the judge to sentence Fouche to 33 years in prison.
An appeal was filed on July 11, court documents show.
According to court records, at about 3 p.m. on June 4, 2021, Fouche was a passenger in a Ford Fusion traveling on I-55 from Tennessee. Fouche’s 2-year-old child was also in the vehicle. A Nissan Pathfinder driven by a Lexington, Tenn., woman and occupied by five passengers, including four children ranging in age from 2 to 11 was in front of Fouche’s vehicle.
As Fouche’s vehicle was passing the victim’s vehicle on the right, Fouche allegedly fired three shots at the victim’s vehicle. One bullet struck the right rear tire causing it to deflate, the other rounds struck the right front passenger door, one of which went through the door and struck the front passenger in the right hip. Fouche then fled the scene and was stopped on northbound I-270 in St. Louis County south of Olive Boulevard, according to court documents.
Missouri State Highway Patrol handled the investigation and at the time of the arrest, called it a road rage incident, saying hand gestures may have been exchanged between those in the two vehicles prior to the shooting.
One of the two assault charges and the unlawful use of a weapon charge are class A felonies that are punishable by five to 15 years in prison. The other assault charge is a class B felony that carries a sentence of five to 15 years in prison. The armed criminal action charges are unclassified felonies punishable by three to 15 years. The first-degree child endangerment charge is a class D felony that carries a sentence of up to seven years. The second-degree child endangerment charges are misdemeanors punishable by up to a year in jail.