The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that 21-year-old William Malik Pearson Jr. is charged with first-degree murder and other charges in the November 2017 shooting that killed 21-year-old Leon Smith Jr. and wounded an 18-year-old woman. He’s been jailed since earlier this year. His attorney, Charles Barberio, says he can’t comment because the investigation isn’t complete.
Smith previously dated a woman, who’s charged along with Pearson in the January 2017 shooting that killed Genna Clements and wounded a man.
Court documents also say cartridge casings found at the scene where Smith was killed match those found after 16-year-old James Scales was fatally shot at a bus stop in September 2017. Pearson is one of four people charged in Scales’ death.
