ST. LOUIS, MO (June 11, 2024) — Anthony Dwayne Brown, 33, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and armed criminal action in the shooting death of William T. Cooper, 30, in the city’s Bevo Mill neighborhood on April 5, 2021. Judge Calea Stovall-Reid accepted Brown’s plea and sentenced him to 13 years in prison.

The day before the shooting, Brown told a relative that he was upset that his former girlfriend, Dayneisha Starks, 21, who is the mother of two of his children, was seeing another man and that he was going to shoot everyone at her residence.

The next day, Brown engaged in three separate shootings. The first occurred outside an apartment building in the 4200 block of Neosho Street, where Brown and Cooper exchanged gunfire. The second shooting occurred in the parking lot of a Family Dollar store in the 4600 block of Gravois Avenue, where Brown fired several shots out the window of his car at Starks and her 14-year-old brother, Dayvonte Watford. Watford ducked for cover and hid behind a fence; he was not injured. A passerby who witnessed the shooting stopped his car, told Starks to get in, and drove her to safety.

Less than 15 minutes later, Cooper and a friend drove to the parking lot of the Dollar General, and then pulled into the parking lot of a nearby restaurant. Moments later, Brown slowly drove his car north on Gravois near the restaurant and shot out the window at Cooper with a 9 mm Beretta, killing him.

A Grand Jury had charged Brown with first-degree murder, four counts of armed criminal action, four counts of first-degree assault, and unlawful use of a weapon. Prosecutors agreed to reduce the murder charge to manslaughter and drop several of the other charges in exchange for Brown’s guilty plea.

“An individual who had no reservations about turning our city streets into a shooting gallery is behind bars where belongs,” said Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore. “The tragic loss of life – and near misses – once again show the danger posed to ordinary citizens by those who believe guns are the best way to settle a feud.”

The case was prosecuted by Assistant Circuit Attorney Kerri Davis.

              ###