ST. LOUIS, MO (June 27, 2024) — Thomas Kinworthy, 47, was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole by 22nd Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth B. Hogan for the Aug. 29, 2020 murder of St. Louis Metropolitan Police Officer Tamarris Bohannon, 29, in the 3700 block of Hartford Street in the City’s Tower Grove South neighborhood. Judge Hogan also gave Kinworthy the maximum punishment on each of eight additional counts, all to be served consecutively as recommended by the prosecution.
On May 2, 2024, a jury deliberated for fewer than three hours before finding Kinworthy guilty of Officer Bohannon’s murder. Kinworthy was also found guilty of armed criminal action and assault for shooting and seriously wounding SLMPD Officer Arlando Bailey, 33, and Mark Smith, 59, a homeless man who had been digging through dumpsters in the neighborhood. Smith died from a drug overdose in 2023.
Kinworthy, a convicted felon who jumped bail in Florida, had come to St. Louis on August 24, 2020. On the afternoon of August 28, 2020, Kinworthy shot Smith, who ran to a nearby house and asked the homeowners to call 911. Kinworthy walked through the unlocked front door of the house. The homeowners escaped out the back door, unharmed. Armed with a nine-millimeter semi-automatic handgun, Kinworthy barricaded himself in a bathroom on the second floor of the house.
Officer Bohannon and probationary Officer Daniel DeVasto were among the first law enforcement officers to respond to the scene. Kinworthy fired one shot through the bathroom window, striking Officer Bohannon in the head. His fellow officers took him to a hospital where he died the next day. Kinworthy shot Officer Bailey in the leg as he attempted to take cover behind a parked car.
Police negotiators, with snipers standing by, spent nearly 12 hours trying to get Kinworthy to give himself up. A SWAT team deployed a chemical irritant, stormed the house, and captured Kinworthy.
The case was prosecuted by Chief of Homicide Mary Pat Carl, Violent Crime Unit Supervisor Tanja Engelhardt, and Assistant Circuit Attorney Adam Field.
Officer Bohannon’s parents, his sister, his wife, Alexis and their three children, and his sister-in-law read victim impact statements at the sentencing. Each family member spoke of the grief, trauma and anger they continue to experience in the aftermath of Officer Bohannon’s senseless murder.
Kinworthy also addressed the court. He did not accept responsibility for his crimes or offer an apology to the Bohannon family and lashed out verbally at prosecutors.
“Years of meticulous work by our prosecution team achieved long-delayed justice for the families of Officers Bohannon and Bailey,” said Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore. “The sentence of life without the possibility of parole and additional maximum sentences on all counts are appropriate punishment for these heinous crimes committed by such a violent, unrepentant individual.”
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For Immediate Release
For more information contact:
Amber Raub
Public Information Officer
St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office
rauba@stlouiscao.org
314-589-6233 (office)
314-312-9912 (cell)
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