2nd Violent Crimes Prosecutor Departs Kim Gardner's Office in 4 Days

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Robert Cohen of the Post-Dispatch

Assistant Circuit Attorney Chris Desilets.

Another violent crimes prosecutor has left Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner's office.

Three days after assistant St. Louis Circuit Attorney Alex Polta departed the embattled office, Chris Desilets parted ways with Gardner this morning. As of last week, Desilets is facing a contempt of court charge after twice failing to show up for court hearings. At the time, he told the judge he was in charge of approximately 104 felony cases — cases that will now need a new prosecutor.

News of his departure broke this morning because Desilets was due in court in the cases of Javonn Nettles and Andre Anderson, who are charged with murdering a 7-year-old girl, D'Myah Fleming and her father, Darrion Rankin-Fleming, on Laclede Avenue near St. Louis University in January 2021.

The killing shocked the neighborhood and the city as a whole. Then-Mayor Lyda Krewson wrote on Twitter, "Absolutely heartbroken tonight over the senseless killings of these two people — especially this young child caught up in a deadly dispute among adults….Prayers to their families."

Both men were arrested in spring of 2021, but in the past two years the murder cases have meandered through the courts. In what’s become a common practice under Gardner, prosecutors dropped and refiled charges against them in April.

At 2:17 a.m. this morning, in the final hours with the prosecutor's office, Desilets filed a motion to continue Nettle's case.

Hearings in both cases were scheduled this morning at 9:30 a.m. in the courtroom of Judge Michael Noble, the judge who last week said there was sufficient reason to charge both Gardner and Desilets in indirect criminal contempt of court.

At 9:30 a.m., Nettles' attorney Terry Niehoff was in the courtroom, but there was no one from the Circuit Attorney’s Office.

"Your prosecutor quit this morning," Niehoff told his client, who was wearing orange jail house garb and seated in a row of other defendants. Niehoff walked toward him and shrugged.

About 20 minutes later, assistant circuit attorney Rob Huq appeared in Desilet's stead. He said that this was the third courtroom he'd made an appearance in that morning.

"I have a strong suspicion you're just now coming up to speed on these cases," Judge Noble said to Huq.

Huq replied that suspicion was correct.

Noble scheduled a hearing for this afternoon to allow Huq to do his due diligence on the case before it continues to move forward. There are pending motions to dismiss filed by both Niehoff and Scott Rosenblum, who is Anderson's attorney.

After the departures of Polta and Desilets in the past four days, the Violent Crimes unit of the Circuit Attorney's Office is now staffed solely by two attorneys, Srikant Chigurupati and Adam Field, according to a document shared with the RFT.

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RYAN KRULL

Photo of flier for Mother's Day March for Justice May 14

Attorney David Mueller, who is running against Gardner next year, tells the RFT he understands Desilets’ decision to leave the office given the "impossible position he’s been placed."

However, Mueller added, "My heart continues to break for the victims and their families who will see justice delayed again and again as the Circuit Attorney’s Office scrambles to reassign his hundreds of open cases. What’s more, many of the defendants will now wait more years for their trials. The City deserves much better."

D'Myah Fleming's family has scheduled a Mother's Day March for Justice May 14 on the 4000 block of Laclede.