St. Louis Man, Kurt Wallace Confesses to Armed Carjackings, Jail Escape, and Tragic Shooting of De Smet High School Football Coach

In St. Louis, Missouri, a 30-year-old man named Kurt Wallace pleaded guilty to a series of serious charges. These include four counts of stealing cars, two counts of firing a gun during car thefts, one count of using a gun during a car theft resulting in someone's death, and one count of escaping from jail.

This all unfolded back on September 16, 2017, when Wallace forcibly took a 2005 Chevrolet Monte Carlo from someone in St. Louis. During this frightening incident, he shot the driver in the shoulder. 

Just a month later, on October 15, 2017, he committed another carjacking in St. Louis. This time it was a Cadillac CTS and he shot the driver in the leg.

Tragically, the following day, Wallace was involved in yet another carjacking, this time of a Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Jaz Granderson, who happened to be a football coach at De Smet Jesuit High School. 

During this carjacking, Wallace fatally shot Granderson.

Following these heinous crimes, Wallace was indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2017 and was held in jail awaiting trial. However, on July 15, 2019, he managed to escape from jail. 

After escaping, Wallace and another inmate named James Flannel carjacked a vehicle and engaged in a high-speed pursuit with the police, which ended when Wallace crashed the stolen vehicle.

As part of his guilty plea, both sides have agreed to recommend a sentence of 60 years in federal prison for Wallace.

These guilty pleas come after a thorough investigation conducted jointly by the Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. This investigation focused on a series of violent crimes committed by Wallace and others during the fall of 2017. 

Wallace is the seventh individual convicted in connection with this investigation, with others including Floyd Barber, Jherrica Dixon, James Flannel, Jerell Henderson, Larenta Jones, and Stephan Jones.

James Flannel, one of the individuals involved, was sentenced to life in prison in November 2021 for the fatal carjacking of Boris Iouioukine, a driver for Laclede Cab Company, on June 25, 2018. 

He is also awaiting sentencing for the escape and carjacking.

Jherrica Dixon pleaded guilty on May 22, 2019, to multiple felonies, including carjacking and discharging firearms during violent crimes. She confessed to setting up meetings with men to facilitate carjackings carried out by her then-boyfriend Wallace and others. 

On August 14, 2017, Wallace and his associates carjacked a 2017 Dodge Charger in St. Louis. Dixon also admitted her involvement in setting up the carjackings on September 16 and October 15, as well as the fatal carjacking of Granderson.

Floyd Barber admitted guilt on June 4, 2019, to two carjackings and discharging firearms during violent crimes. He was involved in the carjacking of a Kia Optima on September 9, 2017, in St. Louis, as well as the carjacking of Granderson and the fatal drug-related robbery of Ladareace Pool on October 3, 2017.

Sentencing hearings for Dixon and Barber are still pending. Dixon faces a mandatory minimum of 27 years in prison for just three of the charges, with both sides agreeing to recommend 30 years in prison for Barber.

U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey sentenced Jerell Henderson to 42 ½ years in prison on August 23, 2022, for his involvement in Pool's robbery and murder. Larenta Jones received a 30-year prison sentence, while Stephan Jones, the driver on the day of Pool's murder, was sentenced to five years in prison on a drug charge.

Bernard Hansen, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Kansas City Field Division, emphasized their commitment to partnering with law enforcement to ensure that violent individuals like Wallace face justice and make communities safer.

 

In another news, Piotr Gierasik, aged 54, and Paulina Gierasik, aged 20, are now facing potential life imprisonment for charges of both murder and incest. These charges arose after the discovery of infant remains in shallow graves on their property in Poland. See detailed story here

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