St. Louis Man Charged with Killing Motel Clerk Who Refused Him a Room

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First Western Inn in Near North Riverfront.

A St. Louis man was charged with murder today for the July killing of a motel employee who refused him a room. 

Police say that 36-year-old Marquis Black killed the employee at the First Western Inn Motel in the city’s Near North Riverfront neighborhood on the afternoon of July 29, 2023.

After shooting the employee, police say Black fled the scene. 

Previous news reports identified the victim as Anoop Putta.

Putta’s wife was the one who called police, saying that she heard three shots before discovering her fatally wounded husband. She later told police that a customer that fit Black's description and her husband were the only two people in the motel's lobby at the time of the shooting. 

Police say that surveillance video from the scene shows Black arriving in a Ford Fusion. At a later date, police stopped that same Fusion and the driver admitted to dropping Black off at the motel on the afternoon of the killing. The driver said that he'd dropped Black off there so that he could get a room. 

A search of Black's phone turned up GPS data showing him at the motel at the time of the homicide. 

In addition to first-degree murder, Black was also charged with unlawful possession of a weapon and armed criminal action. The charges were issued at large and Black does not appear to be in custody as of this morning.

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