ST. LOUIS, MO (August 15, 2024) — Jkai Mabin, 24, was convicted of first-degree assault and armed criminal action for shooting at Dylan Roland, 27, on June 10, 2022, in the city’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood.

Mabin and co-defendants, Rayna Gholston, 28, and Sylvester Murry, 29, made a plan to rob Roland. Gholston had been texting with Roland on Tinder, which made Murry, with whom she had a relationship, jealous. After Gholston agreed to meet Roland at his apartment on June 10, the three co-defendants carried out their plan.

Surveillance video from the night of June 10 showed Mabin, Gholston and Murry arriving in Gholston’s car in the parking lot of Roland’s apartment complex. Mabin and Murry got out, took guns out of the trunk, and hid nearby. When Roland came out of his apartment to meet Gholston, Mabin and Murry ambushed him and told him to freeze. Roland ran and Murry and Mabin began shooting at him. Roland was able to escape. Police later found 19 shell casings at the scene.

On June 16, police responding to a call for shots fired found Gholston and Murry trying to conceal themselves in her car by lying down in their seats. Police found a gun on Murry’s seat and another gun tucked between the seat and the center console. Both firearms matched the shell casings found at the scene of the June 10 shooting.

Mabin will be sentenced on September 30, 2024.

Murry, who was subsequently arrested on a federal weapons charge, will be tried on November 12, 2024. Gholston’s case is pending.



The case was prosecuted by Assistant Circuit Attorneys Andrew Russek and Timothy Wright.

“This case is a cautionary tale about the risks of using dating apps to meet strangers,” said Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore. “The victim was extremely lucky to have escaped injury – or worse – at the hands of these dangerous individuals.”