ST. LOUIS _ Charges brought Thursday against a man accused of killing 15-year-old Sentonio Cox are the first to be filed after a string of child deaths in the city.
Joseph Renick, 54, shot Sentonio in the head on Sunday morning as the boy was backing away with his hands raised, according to court documents filed Thursday.
Renick, of the 4000 block of Schiller Place in the Bevo Mill neighborhood, was charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.
Sentonio's body was found in the 7300 block of Vermont Avenue. He is the latest of at least 13 children killed by gunfire in St. Louis this year.
Public frustration had been building over the lack of information police were getting as they worked to develop leads in the cases. Police Chief John Hayden, Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards and Mayor Lyda Krewson had all pleaded for people to step forward.
On Saturday, city leaders announced a $25,000 reward for tips in connection with the youngest children killed.
At the same time, Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner was facing criticism on social media for not charging a man, who is in federal custody, with the slaying of 7-year-old Xavier Usanga earlier this month.
Federal prosecutors have said that Malik Ross, 23, stole $50,000 from his employer as part of a plan to flee the city, believing himself responsible for the shooting.
On Thursday, Gardner issued a statement:
"Based upon the current evidence and Missouri law, we are unable to determine who is legally responsible for the death of Xavier."
The statement said the alleged confession of Ross is "not fully supported by the evidence," and that existing evidence "is insufficient to charge anyone yet."
Xavier was fatally shot Aug. 12 while playing with his sisters in his backyard in the Hyde Park neighborhood.
Two weeks later in the Carondelet neighborhood, Sentonio's mother said she went searching for her son after her nephew woke her up. The two had been walking home, he said, when they heard gunfire. Her nephew ran, then realized Sentonio wasn't with him.
"I found my baby laying face down, shot in the head," his mother Roxzyanna Edwards told those gathered at a vigil this week. "It was really dark, but as the sunlight beamed up ... God showed me he was right next to me."
Renick fired one shot from a revolver, killing Sentonio, charges say.
Renick was being held Thursday in lieu of $500,000 cash bail. The charging document said he has a previous felony conviction in St. Louis County for failure to pay child support.
Gardner joined in calling for witnesses to come forward and cooperate with investigators. Her statement said that prosecutors have "asked for a significant amount of follow-up work from police designed to clarify facts and corroborate testimony."
"Justice does not mean charging someone with insufficient evidence, charging someone to alleviate public pressure, or taking one narrative or one piece of evidence and making broad assumptions about the facts of any case," the statement said.
It added that "the release of snippets of information (true and untrue) regarding the investigation has made the search for the truth a lot more difficult."
Federal public defender Bevy Beimdiek, Ross' lawyer, declined to comment Thursday.
During a federal court hearing held on Tuesday to determine if Ross will remain in jail until trial on the stealing charge, police detective John Anderson said Ross called his aunt after the Aug. 12 shooting. Ross told his aunt that he "killed that boy" and needed help getting out of town, Anderson said.
Anderson said that Ross then stole a bag containing $50,000 from his employer, Garda World Cash Logistics, by dropping it in the street for his aunt to pick up.
After Ross' arrest on the federal charge, he spoke to police for four to five hours, according to court testimony Tuesday.
Ross told police he didn't mean to shoot at Xavier and never saw him, Anderson said. He did see someone on a nearby porch with a gun, and heard a shot, Anderson said, adding, "It was them or me," at one point during the questioning. There was also discussion, but no resolution, about whether Ross legally owned a gun.
Police have not recovered the weapon that shot Xavier, a prosecutor said during the hearing, although police did recover two guns during a search of a home in the 1600 block of 17th Street.
Gardner's statement said, "Missouri's current gun and self-defense laws make us all less safe and hinder law enforcement's ability to hold people accountable in this and so many other cases."
"Please call Crimestoppers. Call the police. Call my office," Gardner implored. "I believe when we all work together, we can bring justice to Xavier and all crime victims."
Area residents told Xavier's parents that the shooting stemmed from a dispute over a basketball game between Ross and the 18-year-old who was wounded in the shooting.
