ST. LOUIS, MO (July 01, 2024) — Devin Griffin-Curry, 19, was sentenced to 22 years in the Department of Corrections for second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the shooting death of Rickey Jemore Lathan, 35, on July 12, 2022, in the 2500 block of Semple Avenue in the City’s Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood. Griffin-Curry, who was 16 at the time of the shooting, was certified to stand trial as an adult.

Lathan, a father of six, was standing in his front yard with his 10-year-old son and five-year-old daughter at about 11 p.m. shooting off fireworks. A bottle rocket shot across Semple and hit the house of Griffin-Curry’s grandparents. His grandfather, Ronald Curry Sr., became angry, rushed out of the house and confronted Lathan, telling him to shoot the fireworks at a vacant lot nearby. As they were arguing, Devin ran out of the back of Curry’s house, firing a 9 mm pistol at Lathan. Lathan died at the scene.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hal Goldsmith and Jennifer Szczucinski.

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