A St. Louis, Missouri-area woman appears to have taken matters into her own hands after her car was stolen, tracking her car down and killing two people in a shootout. Now she’s facing murder charges.
Police arrested 35-year-old Demesha Coleman in connection with a shootout at a Speedie Gas gas station near North Broadway Street and Riverview Boulevard just after 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21. Detectives investigating the shooting told the St. Louis Post Dispatch that they reviewed surveillance footage showing Coleman and an unidentified man approaching her stolen Hyundai Tucson and carrying guns.
In the footage, Coleman was seen opening the driver’s side door with her gun raised while the unidentified man opened the passenger’s side door with his gun raised. That’s when Coleman opened fire and a shootout began.
In the aftermath of the shootout, 19-year-old Darius Jackson and 49-year-old Joseph Farrar were killed and a third man was shot in the head but survived.
Jackson was found on the ground next to the Tucson with a shot to the torso.
Farrar was found next to a gas pump, also with a shot to the torso.
The third man was found on the far end of the gas station and was taken to Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Farrar’s family told KSDK News that he was at the gas station that night to pick up some medicine for his 11-year-old son and to fill his tank.
“My brother is dead because of somebody else’s mess,” said Farrar’s sister, Michelle Jackson.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s Office charged Colman with two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of armed criminal action and one count of first-degree assault.
Farrar’s sisted told KSDK News that she isn’t mad at Coleman.
“I wish I wish that she would have contacted the authorities, but I understand,” Michelle Jackson said. “I will be more mad with the guys that stole her car to put her in this situation because we’re all just one decision away from something like that, making the wrong choice. Because when things happen, we don’t always think, it’s just a reaction. And so I’m not mad with her.”
The St. Louis Post Dispatch reported the rates of Hyundais and Kias being stolen has increased dramatically in recent months after a viral TikTok video showed the app’s users how to easily break in and drove off with the vehicles using only a screwdriver and a USB charging cable.
