ST. LOUIS, MO  (September 28, 2026) — Clyde Sanders, 37, was sentenced Monday to 25 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections for second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Kobe Dotson in the City’s Gravois Park neighborhood.

On April 25, 2023, Sanders approached Dotson and four others in the 3700 block of Minnesota Avenue and provoked an argument. When the group attempted to dismiss Sanders, he pulled out a firearm. Dotson and the others attempted to flee, but a member of the group could not enter Dotson’s pickup truck before Sanders opened fire. As Dotson tried to help the member of the group who remained outside the truck, Sanders fired at the vehicle, fatally wounding Dotson. The truck then crashed into a home in the 2800 block of Chippewa Street.

Investigators recovered surveillance footage of the shooting and identified Sanders after police released images to local media. Two witnesses also identified Sanders in photographic lineups. Police arrested Sanders on June 14, 2023. 

Sanders has prior felony convictions in Missouri, Illinois, and Georgia, including aggravated domestic battery, motor vehicle tampering, fleeing police, and drug offenses.

“Violent offenders who show such callous disregard for human life pose a serious danger to our community,” Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore said. “This prosecution furthers public safety by removing a dangerous murderer from the community before he could take another life.”

Violent Crime Unit Supervisor Adam Field, Assistant Circuit Attorney Dominic Cusumano, and Assistant Circuit Attorney Ryan Dowd prosecuted the case

The defendant’s case number is 2322-CR01254-01.