A woman tracked down her stolen Hyundai to a gas station and engaged in a shootout with three men, killing two, according to media reports. Demesha Coleman, 35, faces two counts of first-degree murder, one count of first-degree assault with serious physical injury and three counts of armed criminal action, according to St. Louis County court records. Coleman went to a Speedie Gas in northern St. Louis near the Mississippi River just after 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 21, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
She walked up to the front passenger door of a Hyundai Tucson and opened it “with her gun raised,” the outlet reported. A man who was with Coleman approached the driver of the SUV and fired shots, according to KMOV. A “shootout” ensued, the outlet reported.
Two men were pronounced dead at the gas station and a third, who had been shot in the head, was taken to a hospital in critical condition, according to KSDK. Police did not say if any of the men are suspected of stealing the Hyundai, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Coleman is being held without bond, according to court records. Police have not publicly identified the man with her. Family members told WTSP that one of the men killed was at the gas station buying flu medicine for his son when he was struck and killed by a stray bullet during the shootout.
McClatchy has reached out to the St. Louis Police Department for more information and is awaiting a response.
Thefts of Kia and Hyundai vehicles spiked this year following a TikTok trend showing users how to exploit a defect in certain models and steal them, according to a class action lawsuit filed in August. In November, two teenage boys were shot after they took off in a woman’s Kia Optima with three other people. The woman and a few of her family members tracked the stolen vehicle to a gas station where gunfire broke out.
Source: Kansas City News
