St. Louis man was arrested Tuesday after video appeared to catch him nonchalantly shooting a homeless man execution-style in broad daylight.
Deshawn Thomas, 23, was arrested in connection with the Monday murder but has yet to the charged, police said.
Thomas can be seen struggling to load his gun as he stands right behind the homeless man, who is sitting on the curb just a few feet away, bystander video posted online shows.
He then appeared to fire on the yet-to-be-identified victim, who raised his arms at one point, but made no attempt to run away and seemed almost resigned to his fate, the video showed.
The victim, whose name has not been released, had fended off Thomas at a Shell gas station just minutes before. Thomas then chased him across the street before allegedly shooting him, police said.
Cousins said the victim is likely in his 40s, but didn’t provide more details about him.
The video was posted on Twitter but was taken down to its graphic nature.
“Twitter took down this video I posted yesterday so I’ll post it again,” the person who posted the video wrote, according to the Riverfront Times. “Doesn’t show the murder on camera so stop censoring it.”
Before the video of the Monday murder surfaced, Gardner was already under fire after a driver facing felony charges for robbery — who had violated his bail conditions multiple times — hit a teenager earlier this month, causing her to lose her legs.
Missouri Republicans have called for the state to handle the prosecution of violent crimes instead of Gardner, and filed court documents recently in an attempt to fire her.
Thomas, who the city’s police have now charged with first degree murder, reportedly fled the scene and was arrested after entering a public library later in the afternoon.
Witnesses say they say Thomas and the as yet unnamed man fighting outside a petrol station further up the street just moments earlier.
One resident said: “This is broad daylight! Have we seen enough?”
Another criticised St. Louis’ leaders for not doing enough to prevent violent crime in the city, saying: “Our elected leaders do NOT have a handle on this."
The Missouri city has one of the highest rates of murder in the United States.
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