ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — St. Louis County prosecutors on Monday dropped murder charges against a teenager who was accused of fatally shooting a man at the Galleria shopping mall in 2020.
Jaron Lemmitt, now 19, had been charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the shooting death of 21-year-old Jaquan Steed. Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell said in a statement that surveillance video not available at the time charges were filed provided “unmistakable evidence” that Lemmitt acted in self-defense.
The shooting happened July 22, 2020, sending mall patrons scattering. Bell said surveillance video showed that Steed initiated the fatal confrontation by rushing down an escalator and assaulting Lemmitt.
Bell said witnesses also said that it was Steed who produced the gun that Lemmitt was able to get ahold of and use in the shooting.
A second man was shot in the arm. St. Louis County Circuit Judge Ellen Ribaudo dismissed first-degree assault and armed criminal action charges against Lemmitt in that case. Bell said the charges were dropped because the wounded man refused to cooperate in the investigation.
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