ST. LOUIS, MO (August 7, 2024) — Anthony Donvanchio Newberry, 29, pleaded guilty to kidnapping, beating and murdering Lynette Lecates, 41, in the city’s Bevo Mill neighborhood on May 23, 2021. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for second-degree murder and 15 years for kidnapping, to be served concurrently.

Newberry and co-defendant Darris Williams, 37, stole Lecates’s debit card but could not use it because they did not have her pin number. When she refused to give it to them, they beat her mercilessly and forced her into the trunk of Newberry’s car. They drove to a park where they opened the trunk and again beat Lecates, who was disabled and required dialysis. She tried to run away but was caught, beaten again and forced back into the trunk.

Newberry then drove to an industrial area where he and his accomplice again beat Lecates, ripped her dialysis port out of her chest, and left her for dead beside railroad tracks. Police responding to 911 calls found Lecates unconscious with agonal breathing. She was taken to a local hospital where she remained in a coma until she died more than two weeks later from complications of blunt force trauma to her head.

At 4 a.m. the morning Lecates was found, police found Newberry passed out in his car with music blaring and arrested him for driving while intoxicated. After towing his car, police found blood on the rear bumper and under the trunk lid. Newberry told police he did not remember anything about the incident because he had blacked out while high on drugs and blamed Williams for beating Lecates.

Newberry has another case pending for his role in holding an unarmed 70-year-old corrections officer hostage on August 22, 2023, while Newberry was incarcerated in the City Justice Center.

Williams is scheduled to go to trial in October on charges of first-degree murder, robbery, and kidnapping, injuring, and terrorizing Lecates.

The case was prosecuted by Violent Crime Unit Supervisor Tanja Engelhardt and Assistant Circuit Attorney Andrew Russek.

“The ruthless actions of this violent individual clearly show that he is a menace to society,” said Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore. “We hope this sentence will provide a measure of solace to Ms. Lecates’s loved ones.”

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