ST. LOUIS, MO  (August 27, 2025) — A St. Louis jury convicted 26-year-old Daron Lontrell Nelson on Wednesday of first-degree assault of a special victim, unlawful use of a weapon, and two counts of armed criminal action for a March 14, 2024, shooting in the City’s Downtown West neighborhood.

Nelson drove a white Hyundai Sonata that pulled alongside the victim’s vehicle near 23rd and Washington. A masked passenger fired multiple rounds into the car, striking the 62-year-old victim once in the upper back and damaging the vehicle. Emergency crews transported the victim to a local hospital, where he survived.

The shooting happened outside a children’s daycare center while children were inside. Surveillance video from the daycare captured Nelson’s car fleeing the scene. Police used real-time crime cameras to track the Hyundai. Officers stopped the vehicle later that night and arrested Nelson, who matched the victim’s description of the driver. During an interview, Nelson admitted he drove the car during the shooting. Police also recovered a Glock .40 caliber pistol from the vehicle.

“This shooting not only seriously injured an elderly victim but also put children in immediate danger because it happened in the street outside of a daycare during operating hours,” said Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore. “When gunfire erupts near children, the risk to innocent lives is unacceptable. Our office will continue to prosecute violent crimes to protect victims and to achieve a higher level of public safety in St. Louis.”

Sentencing is scheduled for November 3, 2025. Nelson faces a minimum of 18 years in prison.

In February of 2025, Nelson was convicted of two counts of felony resisting arrest after he crashed his car while trying to flee police the same day as the shooting.

Assistant Circuit Attorneys Grant Simon, John Edwards, and Kate Cogan prosecuted the case.

The defendant’s case number is 2422-CR00756-01.