A husband and spouse from Texas have been arrested and charged within the killing of a 17-year-old who was shot on Interstate 170 final week in St. Louis.
Willie Herndon, 43, was charged with first-degree homicide and armed legal motion, whereas his spouse, Taiya Herndon, 45, has been charged with hindering prosecution within the dying of Alyssa Wilson, St. Louis County Prosecutor Melissa Worth Smith introduced Monday.
Wilson was driving her automobile on I-170 on her technique to meet a pal on the St. Louis Zoo on Oct. 14 when a suspect fired no less than one gunshot into the rear of her automobile, in accordance with courtroom paperwork.
After she was struck by gunfire, Wilson turned “incapacitated,” inflicting her to crash into the concrete median wall of the freeway, in accordance with courtroom information.
Undated picture of Alyssa Wilson.
Robert Hickman
Wilson was taken to Barnes-Jewish Hospital, the place she was pronounced useless, in accordance with courtroom information.
“Alyssa was 17, enthusiastic about her life, enthusiastic about her future. She had 60 days till she turned 18, and we have been on the brink of take our first household trip collectively to go to Disney for her to see her favourite individual on the earth, Princess Tianna and sadly, she’s not going to get to try this anymore. This was a mindless act,” Alyssa’s father, Robert Hickman, stated on the press convention Monday.
Investigators declined to share the motivation for the assault. There isn’t a relationship between the couple and Wilson, Chief Deputy Cmdr. Jack Abell with the Main Case Squad of Better St. Louis stated Monday.
Surveillance video from the realm of the capturing captured a suspect pulling over a white Buick Enclave into the appropriate shoulder of Interstate 170. A suspect then exited the passenger aspect of the automobile, and seconds later a gunshot may be heard, in accordance with courtroom information.
Investigators searach for proof after a husband and spouse from Texas have been dealing with costs in reference to the dying of a 17-year-old who was shot on Interstate 170.
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Wilson sustained puncture wounds to the again and chest in keeping with a projectile being fired into the rear of her automobile, in accordance with courtroom information.
Seconds after the capturing, the suspect returned to the automobile and the automobile fled the scene, in accordance with courtroom information.
Shortly after the capturing, Wilson’s automobile may be seen crashing, in accordance with courtroom information.
Investigators stated they have been in a position to determine the automobile used within the capturing — and a decal on it — and adopted it to a close-by resort the place the Herndons have been staying, in accordance with courtroom information. There, investigators situated a automobile with the identical decal, however the license plate had modified, in accordance with courtroom paperwork.
Upon additional investigation, police decided that neither license plate belonged to the automobile, in accordance with courtroom information.
A firearm was additionally among the many proof gathered by investigators from the Herndons’ resort room, in accordance with courtroom information.
Regulation enforcement officals together with Robert Hickman (C), father of Alyssa Wilson, who was killed in a freeway capturing communicate at a press convention in St. Louis, Oct. 19, 2026.
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Taiya Herndon was seen opening the rear hatch of the automobile on Oct. 16 when police approached her. Willie Herndon emerged from the realm across the resort shortly after, and commenced operating when he noticed police along with her, in accordance with courtroom information.
He was apprehended and detained by police, in accordance with courtroom information.
Willie Herndon has additionally been charged with felon in possession of a firearm. He was beforehand convicted of possession of a stolen automobile, felony receiving identified stolen property and felony housebreaking in two separate circumstances, in accordance with courtroom paperwork.
The costs in opposition to Taiya Herndon stem from her allegedly transporting her husband to the state of Illinois after the capturing, in accordance with Worth Smith.
“Thanks to the main case squad, FBI and Metropolis of Overland for getting this taken care of and getting a small piece of justice for our household,” Hickman stated.
Willie Herndon is being held on a $1 million money bond and Taiya Herndon is being held on a $500,000 cash-only bond, Worth Smith stated.
“No arrest can convey Alyssa again, however we hope this announcement represents a step towards accountability and justice,” Sgt. Michael Clymer, public info officer with the main case squad of better St. Louis, stated Monday.
Whereas investigating Wilson’s capturing, authorities realized that on Oct. 11, one other automobile was additionally shot at after a white SUV pulled over to the aspect of the street. A shell casing recovered from the scene of that capturing has the identical producer because the casing discovered on the scene of Wilson’s killing, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Division stated.
Additional testing is being completed to find out whether or not they got here from the identical weapon, in accordance with courtroom information.
