St. Louis Man Sentenced to 6.5 Years in Prison for Shooting Up Gas Station
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Monday sentenced a man from St. Louis, Missouri to 6 ½ years in prison for a shooting at a St. Louis gas station in 2021.
Jamell Sanders, 47, pleaded guilty in July to a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted that on Jan. 15, 2021 at the Convenience Express at 8815 North Broadway in St. Louis, he fired into the ceiling and again into bulletproof glass surrounding the register. He admitted firing the 10mm handgun again in the parking lot.
At Monday’s hearing, prosecutors said Sanders tried to get behind the counter where two employees were located, then tried to fire through the cash slot. Sanders pointed the gun at a man as Sanders left the store, then fired shots at a car outside, a sentencing memorandum says.
Police arrested Sanders when he returned to the gas station with his children. Officers recovered 12 cartridge casings at the scene.
In 1992, when he was 17 years old, an angry Sanders fired a shot that went through a bathroom window and struck a 21-month-old in the head, killing him, according to statements during Monday’s sentencing hearing. Sanders was sentenced to eight years in prison.
The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.