The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office has charged a man with first degree murder and other counts for fatally shooting a 16-year-old boy who was "checking vehicles" with two other people early Saturday morning. Forty-six-year-old Michael Tolden is being held on a $1,000,000 cash only bond.
St. Louis County Police have identified the victim as 16-year-old Karmel Graham, who lived in the 4600 block of Enright Avenue. He died at the scene.
County officials say that at about 2:46 a.m. on August 31, the Bellefontaine Neighbors Police Department received a call for a shooting in the 1100 block of Oran Drive. When officers arrived, they found Graham dead in the driver's seat of a vehicle. The caller, also a juvenile, told police that he, the victim and another person were in the neighborhood to "check vehicles."
The juvenile who called police said he saw Tolden point a gun at him, and he dove into the backseat of the car that Graham was driving. The juvenile claims Tolden fired the gun several times at the car, hitting and killing Graham. St. Louis County homicide detectives are leading the investigation.