Joshua A. Vaughn

Two young men have been accused of murder, following the shooting death of a man allegedly lured online to a home for the promise of a paid sexual encounter. Responding to a shots fired call here around 11:30 a.m. Friday, police found Joshua A. Vaughn, 33, in the hallway of a small home in the 10300 block of Millwood Avenue. He’d been shot five times. “This was premeditated,” said St. Ann police Chief Aaron Jimenez. “They sought out to rob him.” Vaughn, of the 2000 block of Vincennes Drive in unincorporated north St. Louis County, was transported to a hospital, where he died the following day. Marlois “Tre Tre” Moore, 18, of the 3100 block of Bent Water Place in St. Charles, was arrested at the scene. A search dog helped find Antonio Jones, 19, of the 2000 block of Yaqui Drive in Florissant, hiding in a nearby shed. “After being presented with evidence we obtained, they confessed to wanting to scare him out of money and a struggle ensued,” said St. Ann police Lt. George Ravens. Initially, charged with assault, armed criminal action and robbery, Ravens said the charges were amended Tuesday to include second-degree murder. Ravens said evidence gathered in the preliminary investigation showed that Vaughn received an out-of-the blue message on Instagram Friday morning from Moore. Ravens said Moore reintroduced himself in the message as somebody Vaughn had met when he worked at the Missouri Department of Social Services Division of Youth Services, the agency responsible for the care and treatment of juveniles committed to state custody. Ravens said subsequent correspondence outlined an agreement that Vaughn would come to the home in St. Ann to pay for sex. According to charging documents, Moore and Jones allegedly invited Vaughn into the home, then demanded money, which was transferred to one of the defendants electronically. While trying to force him to the basement, Vaughn apparently turned around and struggled with one of them, while the other shot him. Ravens said there are conflicting statements about if one or both of the defendants shot Vaughn, but that police seized two firearms. On Tuesday, Moore and Jones didn’t have attorneys named in online court records. No one answered the door at Moore’s home in St. Charles. A family member at Jones’ home in Florissant declined to comment other than to say she was sorry for everyone. Vaughn grew up in a large extended family in Fulton, Missouri, where several of his relatives worked for the state. He attended Central Methodist University and later worked at the Division of Youth Services from 2012 to 2022, including stints as a youth specialist, service coordinator and program manager, according to state records. A spokeswoman for the Department of Social Services did not respond to questions about his work history and departure from DYS. In 2020, Vaughn was named in a news release from Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s office announcing the fourth class of the Missouri Leadership Academy, which draws state employees from all departments for intensive training and development. According to his biography at the time, he was a service coordinator supervisor and facility manager at the Met Day Treatment Center in Wellston who reviewed and approved individual treatment and educational plans for youth offenders and oversaw the program’s budget. “I couldn’t believe it because he would give you the shirt off his back,” Vaughn’s mother, Donna Pittman, said by telephone about her son’s death. “He gave and he gave and he gave. He wanted to make a difference.” At the time of his death, he was working at People’s Community Action Corporation, where he did community outreach, including overseeing food distribution and referring youths and families for utility and rental assistance.