Woman Found Her Stolen SUV, Then Opened Fire, Police Say

Demesha Coleman faces murder charges after 2 men are killed, another wounded
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 24, 2022 4:30 PM CST
Woman Found Her Stolen SUV, Then Opened Fire, Police Say
Stock photo   (Getty/Ajax9)

A woman is facing murder charges after St. Louis police said she tracked her stolen vehicle to a gas station and opened fire, shooting three men, two of whom died. The charges filed Thursday against Demesha Coleman, 35, include two counts of murder, Fox News reports. Darius Jackson, 19, and Joseph Farrar, 49, were killed at the station. A third shooting victim was hospitalized in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head. It wasn't clear who stole Coleman's SUV. Police said she told them she'd gone there to get her vehicle back.

Surveillance video shows Coleman and a man, both carrying handguns, approach an SUV at the station. Coleman, who has no criminal record, opened the vehicle door and fired. Farrar's family told KSDK that he'd gone to the station Wednesday night in search of medicine for his 11-year-old son, who'd been diagnosed with the flu, because the grocery store was closed. Police said Farrar was an uninvolved bystander. "My brother is dead because of somebody else's mess," said Michelle Jackson, Farrar's sister. She said she doesn't blame Coleman. "I will be more mad with the guys that stole her car to put her in this situation," Jackson said, "because we're all just one decision away from something like that, making the wrong choice." (More fatal shooting stories.)

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