Pair Accused of Two St. Louis Carjackings
ST. LOUIS – A man and a woman have been indicted and accused of two armed carjackings in St. Louis, Missouri last May.
Jermaine Smith, 48, of St. Louis, and Bianka North, 27, of Illinois, were each indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on two counts of carjacking and two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
The indictment accuses them of stealing a 2006 Pontiac G6 at gunpoint on May 14, 2022, and a 2009 Toyota Scion the next day.
A criminal complaint filed February 16 says the pair feigned vehicle problems in North Riverfront Park in St. Louis to lure the owner of the G6 out of the car. A female carjacker then pointed a gun at the victim and stole the car.
The Scion was carjacked in the 1600 block of South 9th Street in St. Louis just after midnight on May 15. The criminal complaint says the G6 was used in the carjacking, the Scion was taken to Smith’s block and Smith tried to use Cash App on the Scion victim’s mobile phone to transfer money to himself.
Surveillance video at an apartment complex showed someone matching Smith’s description accessing the Scion and the G6, the complaint says.
The carjacking charge carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both. The firearm charge carries a mandatory minimum of 7 years in prison consecutive to any other charge.
Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Szczucinski is prosecuting the case.
