ST. LOUIS — The two men who shot and killed 29-year-old Brandon Scott near the Gateway Arch will spend decades in prison.
Johnathon Jones, 19, and Mark Perry, 38, were each sentenced to more than two decades in prison for taking the life of a man, and father in the Sept. 6, 2021, shooting.
Scott was shot multiple times while seated inside his car at a red light on Washington Avenue and Second Street. Security video showed Jones and Perry riding in an SUV that pulled up to Scott's car and fired shots.
Prosecutors said ballistic testing later confirmed 14 shots were fired from two different guns. After being shot multiple times, Scott’s car accelerated forward and crashed on a flight of stairs on the Arch grounds.
According to family, Scott was out celebrating his completion of commercial driver’s license classes when he was shot to death during what his family believes was a road rage incident.
Scott’s family said he left behind two children – one of whom was only two months old when he was killed.
Police said the shooting occurred after Scott accidentally turned the wrong way on Fourth Street.
Perry was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Because he was a "persistent offender" with multiple felony tampering convictions, he was not eligible for a sentencing recommendation from the jury.
Jones was sentenced to 22-and-a-half years in prison, as recommended by jurors. Jones was a juvenile at the time of the shooting.
Jones is also accused of another murder, the shooting death of 19-year-old JaDun Byrd in March 2022 in The Ville neighborhood.
Jones was charged with first-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon, and two counts of armed criminal action in that case and was certified to stand trial as an adult.
According to a probable cause statement, Byrd was heading into a Lyft to meet his mom at her work. Byrd was FaceTiming his mom when this shooting happened.
