The prosecutor’s office reports a dramatic increase in violent crime prosecution in St. Louis in the six months since an embattled progressive prosecutor was replaced with an appointed circuit attorney.
Gabe Gore, the Democratic candidate for the position of St. Louis Circuit Attorney, is heard speaking during a press conference held on May 19, 2023, at the Carnahan Courthouse in St. Louis. (David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP, File)
Prosecuted of Violent Crimes Increases Rapidly This Year
Gabe Gore said Tuesday that his agency had prosecuted 45% more charges than Kim Gardner’s 2022 six-month period. Gore told a news conference that his office has resolved nearly 2,500 criminal cases, largely violent offenses in a city with one of the nation’s highest homicide rates. “There’s no type of crime that we are looking the other way on,” he stated. “We enforce laws. We don’t believe that living in St. Louis means accepting a certain amount of property crime, or petty crime.” After Gardner’s departure, Republican Gov. Mike Parson appointed Democrat Gore in May. Her rocky tenure featured the prosecution of a sitting Republican governor, many police encounters, and criticism from Missouri Republican leaders about a backlog of cases and a high percentage of violent crime convictions not being punished with greater jail time.
The new prosecutor admitted to hiring 24 attorneys to fill assistant prosecutor vacancies. He also works with private lawyers and the St. Louis U.S. Attorney’s Office to prosecute homicides. He said further work is needed. Gore inherited 250 murders. 37 new homicide cases have been charged since he entered office, while 53 have been resolved. His office is reevaluating 24 deaths Gardner’s office did not charge “but that the homicide division believes have merit,” Gore said. At his hiring, Gore faced 6,700 pending cases. This number is now approximately 4,200. He stated violent crimes were prioritized. The remaining misdemeanors and low-level felonies should be addressed by March. The Rev. Darryl Gray, a prominent civil rights activist and jail oversight board chair, said St. Louis should prioritize crime prevention over response. The city jail has been full since Gore assumed office, he claimed. Gray stated about 90% of the jail’s 750-plus inmates are young Black men.
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Unjust Convictions for Investigation
Gore said he hired a director of community engagement and a retired judge to run a conviction integrity unit to investigate unjust convictions. Gore said three convictions are being reviewed. Gardner, a Democrat, was elected the city’s first Black circuit attorney in 2016. She joined a trend of progressive prosecutors nationwide who sought diversion programs like mental health or drug abuse treatment for low-level crimes, committed to keeping police accountable, and aggressively sought to liberate unfairly convicted inmates. In February, Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey sued Gardner for failing to prosecute existing cases, file charges in police cases, and update victims and their families about case status.
Bailey was accused of political and racial abuse by Gardner. Gardner lost popularity after 17-year-old Tennessee volleyball player Janae Edmondson was hit by a speeding car after a tournament in downtown St. Louis in February. Lost both legs yet lived. Driver Daniel Riley, 21, was out on bond for robbery despite nearly 100 bond violations, including draining his GPS monitor battery and violating house arrest. Critics queried why Riley was released after so many bond violations. Gardner accused Republican Gov. Eric Greitens of illegal privacy invasion in 2018, angering Republicans. The indictment was dropped, and Greitens resigned later that year. Gardner’s Greitens investigator was convicted. Gardner was chastised in writing for not disclosing documents and claiming Greitens’ lawyers had received all materials. Gardner’s 2019 “exclusion list” barred police officers from bringing cases to her office. Nearly 60 officers were accused of anti-Muslim social media remarks.
