La'Tatia Stewart

Police on Friday arrested a man they believe shot three people, killing one woman, in two separate incidents in the parking garage of the Marriott St. Louis Grand Hotel in downtown St. Louis. Prosecutors on Saturday charged Deshawn King Wilson, 35, with first-degree murder in La’Tatia Stewart’s death. He was also charged with assault and armed criminal action for a second shooting in the Marriott garage Thursday that injured two men. Capt. Pierre Benoist, commander of District 4, which includes downtown, said police do not believe the attacks were targeted but suspect they are connected. “We were able to bring this gentleman into custody through the cameras, the technology,” he said. “The businesses downtown were unbelievable in assisting us.” Stewart, 56, worked at the hotel and was walking to her car in the garage just after 6 p.m. Wednesday when she was shot and killed. A day later, officers who were on foot patrol heard shots ring out in the same garage. Two men told the officers they were on the third level of the garage around 6:20 p.m. when a man approached and began firing shots at them. One of the men, 32, was shot in the forearm. The other, 33, was shot in his torso and leg. Both are expected to survive. Benoist said officers spotted the suspect on Friday after someone reported a man flashing a gun in the area. Officers chased and arrested the man. The captain said he threw a gun up on a building’s roof while running away from police; investigators have not determined if it was the gun used in both shootings. Police say Wilson told them he is homeless and used the parking garage for shelter. Wilson has an extensive criminal history, and in 2017 was sentenced to six years in prison for tampering with a motor vehicle and resisting arrest. Last year, he was charged in St. Louis with assault, armed criminal action and unlawful possession of a firearm. Wilson was allowed to remain free on a personal recognizance bond since then, and his trial has been continued multiple times. It was most recently scheduled for next month. Stewart’s mother, Minnie Gilbert, attended the press conference at police headquarters with her family and disagreed that the attack was not targeted. She said she believes her daughter was killed because Stewart was steadfast in pushing police and the community to solve her son’s murder. Her son, Gregory Stewart, was shot outside 2408 Bond Avenue in East St. Louis on the evening of March 28, 2020, and he died the following day. The killing remains unsolved. Then, Wednesday, the morning of Stewart’s death, someone took a street sign and planted it on Gregory Stewart’s memorial, Gilbert said. The family believes the street sign was meant to point them to Gregory’s killer’s house, which was nearby. “Now, tell me that’s random,” Gilbert said. She said Stewart called police and reported the sign, and had been in contact with CrimeStoppers about her son’s death with information in the days leading up to her own killing. Stewart’s son, Paul Stewart Jr., found his mother after she had been shot in the garage and tried to revive her. “I’m going to see my mama again. Justice will be served,” he said through tears. “She was the rock in our family.”