New Charges for St. Louis Man Who Had Triple Murder Dismissed Last Week

City prosecutors dismissed the years-long case last Monday. Yesterday, county prosecutors filed new charges

Jun 14, 2023 at 12:12 pm

COURTESY ST. LOUIS POLICE

Joshua Amerson 2020 booking photo.

One week after city prosecutors dismissed triple murder charges against him, a St. Louis man is now being charged with drug trafficking after being caught in the county with 800 pills of fentanyl.

For almost three years, Joshua Amerson, 20, had been facing three counts of murder stemming from an an alleged July 2020 drive-by shooting that took place in the Walnut Park West neighborhood. The victims in the incident were Malik Taylor, 22; Elijah McKinney, 18; and Daijon Nearing, 18.

He was initially charged in November 2020. However, as was a common tactic in the Circuit Attorney's Office under Kim Gardner, prosecutors filed a nolle prosequi on the eve of trial in July 2022. The filing allowed prosecutors to dismiss and refile the charges, restarting the case and buying them more time to prepare.

Then, last Monday, prosecutors filed a second nolle prosequi in the case, with sources telling the RFT the dismissal was due to a lack of witness cooperation.

However, Amerson's time not facing prosecution was short-lived.

According to a St. Louis County Police Department probable cause statement, on Monday afternoon Amerson was allegedly speeding through Jennings in a white Jeep reported stolen from Detroit. When police attempted to pull the vehicle over, the driver took off before being stopped by a spike strip.

Both Amerson and the driver, Carl Horton, fled, and Amerson was allegedly carrying a pistol. Both men were eventually arrested, and a search of the Jeep turned up the 800 pills believed to contain fentanyl as well as a backpack containing "large amounts of drug manufacturing equipment," according to the police probable cause statement.

Horton is facing the same charges as Amerson, as well as an additional count of tampering with a motor vehicle.

Attorney Dramon Foster, who represented Amerson in the years-long triple murder case, said that he won't be able to represent Amerson this time around, as he is already representing Horton.

"It's early in the game. But obviously, it's very disappointing," Foster said of his former client's new charges. "But I'm always gonna have [Amerson's] back and just wait and see how this plays out. I'll get one of my best friends to represent him. We'll see how it goes."