Teen-carjacking: From the juvenile brain to youth detention to community solutions

The timeline below outlines carjackings involving kids 18 or younger within the last three years.

2023

A series of carjackings involving teenagers emerged at the forefront in January and February. 

On Jan. 31, police told 5 On Your Side that two teenagers pointed a gun in a pastor's face before taking his car, slamming it into two other vehicles, and escaping in south St. Louis. Police arrested a 13-year-old boy and searched for the other teen suspect. 

The victim said the two teens seemed as if they did not know how to operate the car and even asked the pastor for help. After giving them instructions, police said the teens’ escape was short. They got just a few feet before slamming into two cars, ditching the victim’s car, and running off.

On Jan. 25, a car was taken in a carjacking after a police pursuit in the city’s Downtown West neighborhood, according to police. The stolen car’s two passengers were arrested. Police identified the teens as 16, 17, and 18 years old.

On Jan. 24, the father of a woman slain in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of St. Louis' south side said his daughter, Kay Johnson, was driving her car when a bullet hit the 38-year-old mom, killing her.  Police arrested three teenagers allegedly connected to the series of crimes. 

On Feb. 8, a man told police he was standing in the parking lot of a restaurant south of downtown St. Louis when four teens in a vehicle pulled up. They demanded his belongings and took his car. Police later found the victim’s car and arrested a 16-year-old boy and girl.

2022 

Feb. 6 - According to the Associated Press, 17-year-old Vincent Wallace of St. Louis County was charged with second-degree murder and several other charges in connection with the crash that killed 53-year-old Derrick Jackson.

In March alone, there were two carjackings involving teen suspects. 

On Mar. 23, two teen boys were in custody, and police believed two girls were on the run after a police pursuit with reported shots fired in Jefferson County. The multi-jurisdictional pursuit began when armed burglary suspects got away in a reportedly stolen car. Police took a 15-year-old boy into custody and arrested a 16-year-old. Two girls got away, and police were still working to identify them. 

On Mar. 20, police said a 15-year-old boy drove off in a woman's car after reportedly giving the woman a compliment on her shoes and asking for money. The boy had help from other teens at the scene. 

Apr. 7 - A man was shot in the chest near the Delmar Loop and his car was taken by two teens.

Aug. 20 - Police said officers were shot at by suspects trying to flee from an attempted carjacking. Police took two of the three suspects into custody. One of those two taken into custody was a 17-year-old.

Oct. 25 - Police said two boys, 15 and 17 at the time of their escape, got out of the St. Louis County Juvenile Detention Center in Clayton. After the escape, one of the boys was arrested from an attempted carjacking when he told police a corrections officer at the St. Louis Justice Center helped him.  

Oct. 12 - Police said a 65-year-old grandmother and her 15-year-old grandson both became victims of a carjacking on the city’s north side. The woman told police was picking up her grandson from school when a teen pointed a gun at her and stole her car. Three other teens ran off.

Nov. 1 - Police said a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old boy, who stole a woman's car, were both hospitalized after a shooting in the parking lot of a BP gas station. 

2021

Dec. 21 - Three teens were taken into custody after police said the boys carjacked a woman at gunpoint. A 23-year-old woman told police she parked her jeep in a garage when three teens stole her car at gunpoint. A police pursuit ensued, and a 14-year-old, 16-year-old, and 17-year-old were all taken into custody. 

Sept. 3 - A group of young teenagers tried to carjack a man in the Central West End. He said several teenage boys, estimated to be 13 and 14 years old, pointed guns at him and stole his vehicle. 

Aug. 7 - An innocent driver was killed in a crash involving a stolen car with three teenagers inside. Officers initially pulled up behind a stolen car, and the driver took off. A police pursuit ensued, and the Sonata blew through a stop sign and hit another car. The driver was killed and died at the scene. Police said the driver was 16 years old, and the passengers were 16 and 17. 

In July alone, there were a couple of carjackings with teen culprits at the center of a crime. 

July 5 - Five teenage boys hurt a youth center specialist and escaped a secure St. Louis facility in two stolen cars. 

On July 1, two people were carjacked at gunpoint by a 17 and 18-year-old. The teenagers stole the man’s vehicle. 

May 4 - A carjacking involving a child in downtown St. Louis escalated into a high-speed police chase across state lines. The 35-year-old victim told police he was inside his 2018 Toyota Camry when three people approached him. 

2020

Jan. 5 - Three teens were taken into custody after a carjacking in St. Louis’ Central West End neighborhood. A woman told police she parked her car when a 16-year-old and 13-year-old boy stole her car at gunpoint. The boys were taken into custody along with a 15-year-old boy who ran from the stolen car.

Feb. 9 - Two teens were taken into custody after a carjacking in St. Louis’ Shaw neighborhood. A man told police the two teens stole his car at gunpoint. A 15-year-old and a 14-year-old were taken into custody and remanded to the juvenile courts for the theft.  

May 24 - Two 18-year-olds and a 16-year-old were taken into custody after they crashed a car, they took in a carjacking the same day. Police seized two guns and narcotics at the scene.

Sept. 20 - A woman was carjacked at gunpoint by three teenagers in the Central West End. The victim, a 26-year-old woman, told police she was getting bags out of her car when three boys, believed to be between 15 and 17 years old, came up behind her and stole her car at gunpoint. 

Nov. 4 - A woman told police a 15-year-old and 16-year-old boy stole her car at gunpoint. The suspects tried to get away on foot when they were captured by police. 

Nov. 19 - A man was pulled out of his parked car during a carjacking in south St. Louis. A man told police his car was stolen by two teens.

Dec. 26 - An attempted carjacking was foiled when the victim drew her own gun, and then police arrested three teens and an 11-year-old. Police arrested a 17-year-old, two 15-year-olds and an 11-year-old.

According to records provided by the St. Louis County Police Department regarding data on juveniles and vehicle crimes in February, five known offenders under the age of 18 committed a carjacking crime in 2022. This number is low compared to known offenders who committed carjacking in 2020. 

• There were three arrests made by St. Louis County police involving suspects under the age of 18 years old who committed a carjacking in 2022, according to the latest record as of Feb. 16. This number is also low compared to the number of arrests made for carjacking suspects under the age of 18 years old in 2020, which was a dozen arrests. 
• The records did not include the year 2023. 
• There were at least 10 carjacking incidents involving teenagers under 18 years old, according to the timeline above. There were more than five arrests made in these incidents. 
• One carjacking involved teens who did not know how to operate a vehicle. Some carjackings involved teens that were armed or were a part of a group. Also, many of the carjackings resulted in police pursuits, arrests and juvenile detention.

In response to a Freedom of Information request, Erika Zaza with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said their carjacking data does not lend itself to filtering by juvenile suspects:

Carjackings are listed as a subset of robberies and our reporting system has not always had a separate code for these offenses so you may not see it broken down every year in our crime statistics. While you can use this to look-up totals by year, we do not track which offenses have suspects under the age of 18.  

For more information regarding St. Louis police crime statistics, click here. 

Some say this issue has multiple layers, including financial stressors, poverty, or the fact that most of these assailants are making these decisions with a juvenile mind.  

Financial strain within the household

Kenya Brumfield-Young, assistant professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Saint Louis University School of Social Work, said several factors are behind why young people commit carjacking crimes -- like peer pressure, fun, financial stressors or lack of educational prospects.

Brumfield-Young said some of these children support younger siblings, and accessibility to adults is scant.

“They’re needing the money,” Brumfield-Young said. “Do they feel like they need to pay bills? Do they feel like there’s some other vested interest? Do they feel like they’re having to provide their own clothing? Are they feeling like they have to compete with peers that have access to money that they don’t have?”

She said teens may see soft crime as their avenue to pay for items that give them status.

On the other hand, we have some kids living in homes with adults who are doing everything right. 

The juvenile brain and 'The Differential Theory'

For example, two teenagers carjacked Pastor Michael Coleman of Carondelet Baptist Church in January at gunpoint. But the children did not know how to operate the car they were stealing. They asked Coleman to show them how to start the vehicle. Coleman gave them instructions on how to steal his own car.

Brumfield-Young said that as a society, we often expect that just because a young person is supposed to know the difference between right and wrong, we expect them to process consequences similarly. 

“They are very impulsive meaning that if it feels good in the moment 'let’s just do it.' Often, consequences are not even remotely considered. Because as a teenager, what consequences? 'You’re gonna get caught? We’re not gonna get caught',” Brumfield-Young said. 

Brumfield-Young also referred to a theory called The Differential Learning Theory.

“Someone had already taken them out somewhere and showed them how to execute this. The Differential Learning Theory is when an older pair or person will take them, walk them through the steps, and coach them."

She said if the children saw it done a few times, were exposed to it being done or someone walked them through it then it was time for them to finally do it on their own. 

“[But] they did not grasp the full concept, or it wasn’t as easy as they thought it would be,” Brumfield-Young added. 

Brumfield-Young said the incident with the pastor regarding this theory reveals the 13-year-old brain function. 

“'What do you mean if I steal it, I gotta drive it?' 'I watched my mama drive, I can drive,'” she said as though she were a child thinking about carjacking.   

She said that when the crime required the kids to operate the car, that’s when it was apparent their brains were different from adults.

At no time of the crime did they stop and think 'If we get this car and can’t drive, then we can kill ourselves, kill somebody else or get caught.' 

Teen-crime neutralization creates rapid victimization

Brumfield-Young also added that consideration for the crime's effect on the victim is needed. There is something called neutralization, she said. 

Brumfield-Young referred to the “Kia Boys” documentary, which interviewed these kids about whether or not they felt terrible about stealing people’s cars. 

Their answer -- “They should’ve had insurance.”

“If they’re out … they’re out because they should’ve had insurance,” Brumfield-Young said. “So basically … in a sense … they’re like ... people should have insurance."

Brumfield-Young said the teen carjackers do not see the additional harm, including the cost of buying a particular car increasing or the cost of insurance premiums spiking. 

In September of 2022, 5 On Your Side reported close to 2,000 Hyundai and Kia car thefts in the City of St. Louis. In just eight days, the number spiked from 1,783 thefts, said. This means the average number of these new-brand cars is at least 23 stolen every day during those eight days. 

Roy Bent Jr., a certified auto appraiser and insurance expert based in Houston, said in an interview with 5 On Your Side I-Team reporter Christine Byers, that insurance companies weighed whether to insure cars and increase premiums from those who own them after thefts and crashes continued. 

“They have every right to do so,” Bent said. “They have to protect themselves as well as their policyholders.”

You don’t want an insurance company to start increasing your premiums because of a set of vehicles that are continuously being stolen, and everybody is under the blanket, and their premiums go up,” he said. 

The Family Division-Juvenile Division operates a secure, residential Juvenile-Detention Center to house youth who have allegedly committed crime. 

Processing teen carjacking offenders into juvenile-detention

After an arrest, police hand youth suspects to the Juvenile-Detention Center. 

Amanda Sodomka, the assistant court administrator and chief juvenile officer with the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court whose job is to keep kids detained, said detention staff are trained on de-escalation when suspects arrive.

“We try not to use any restraints. It is highly regulated. You can't isolate a juvenile for too long. They are still children. A lot of them come with their trauma and we don't want to do anything to traumatize them."

A juvenile officer then conducts intake of the suspect. The suspect is evaluated and asked several questions to provide the center with background information, such as home life. 

According to the court, youth are given a statewide Missouri Juvenile Detention Assessment to determine whether to keep them in detention or not. They are then placed in a similar unit with other teens their age and gender. 

Judge Steven Ohmer, administrative judge for the 22nd Circuit Court at Family Court in St. Louis, said the information provided during intake dictates how many “points” a suspect receives within a “point system.” The type of crime and evidence found by police determine how many points are applied to the suspect, which also provides an idea of how “at-risk” the suspect is to themselves or the community.

Sodomka said that intake and the “point system” are based on their behavior. Some assessments are done for psychological or behavioral issues to determine if the juvenile is at high risk.

After intake and the point system are completed, the teen's defense attorney or public defender weighs in on these two factors, Ohmer said. These factors are balanced in court to determine whether the suspect can be released or remain in detention.

The time by which youth are detained can vary. The shortest stay is usually one to three days but can be as long as 90 or more days, according to the court. The length of stay depends on pending charges, a hearing or a trial date. 

Sodomka said many court hearings involving teenagers are closed, and court records are confidential.

While suspects wait, they are housed in the center where specific standards are set. 

There are about 50 juveniles in the center along Enright Avenue at any given time, Ohmer said. That number jumped from 10 to 15 at any time. 

There is a medical and housekeeping unit and food service, according to Ohmer.

According to Joel Currier, a spokesperson with the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court, juveniles receive three meals a day.

Currier also said detained juveniles sleep in secure rooms and participate in various daytime activities, including exercise, educational presentations, group discussions, arts, and a library.

Ohmer also said detention youth workers are not security guards and they are not armed. The minimum ratio is eight juveniles to one staff member. Workers encourage, guide, and supervise all youth during their detainment. 

Ohmer said the center is not the St. Louis Justice Center nor jail.

5 On Your Side asked to speak with a current detention youth worker to provide comments on their experience with detainees. The juvenile court does not allow the media to speak to them.

They are held until released by a judge outright or on a detention alternative such as house arrest. They also could leave detention by being committed to the Missouri Division of Youth Services.

Sometimes, the suspect is moved to the St. Louis downtown Justice Center once they reach 18 years old. This transfer is meant to mitigate detention housing problems. 

Ohmer said if the teen’s case has not been resolved and he has reached the age of 18, then the detention will transfer them to the Justice Center.

Ohmer then can certify a child to stand trial as an adult, which would put them under the jurisdiction of the adult court. Once the suspect becomes an adult, court records become open to the public. 

However, Currier said the court provides juveniles an array of services aimed at reducing repeat offenses and helping juvenile offenders get back on track.

Mental health resources offered in juvenile detention center

One way the Juvenile Division keeps teens safe is through its psychological services unit, which monitors teens housed in the detention center. The division has up to four licensed clinical therapists on staff, according to the City of St. Louis Family Court 2021 report to the community. 

According to Currier, the psychological services unit provides various services to court and detention staff. The unit personnel consist of one doctoral-level psychologist, an assistant supervisor, and three master's level clinical services advocates, whose primary function is to:

• Provide crisis intervention and evidence-based therapeutic services. 
• Ensure that detained youths' psychological needs and safety issues are addressed consistently and timely.  
• Provide mental-health screening for all youth admitted to the detention Center and facilitate obtaining psychiatric and other mental health-related services after the youth left detention. 
• Collaborate with the detention medical unit and contract psychiatry staff to treat and monitor youth referred with more intensive needs.

Some of these teens return home after a legal decision is made with services offered by the system, but the community where they are from remains the same. That might include a lack of access to employment opportunities, teen programs, and reinforcement that can last a lifetime. 

Building equity, providing jobs in the community

One organization is working on giving teens an important connection to their community while building a work ethic.

Jessica Gaines, a project manager for construction for Dream Builders 4 Equity, a nonprofit focused on North St. Louis and the Hyde Park neighborhood said the organization provides youth with a sense of ownership over their community by building homes in an employed role. 

“We renovated a home on Randall Place that is now sold, but the home was a dilapidated building," she said. "It was inhabitable at the time, and it actually was sitting on a double lot.”

The organization renovated the home with not only our minority contractors but with the help of the youth workers who were paid $15 an hour. 

“Every time they set foot on site, they got to help with laying new concrete. They got to help with putting on the deck on the rear of the home. They got to help with all the finishes and painting,” she said. “They have this sense of ownership for that home that they put together.”

The organization sold the renovated home to a lovely couple who bought the property under what the market value would be for a home of that square footage with the types of finishes that they put into it, Gaines said. The couple probably has somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000 worth of equity in their home, which increases their property value. 

Youth can create their own success with this experience like attending barber school or starting child daycares and clothing lines, she said.

Gaines said focusing less on what we don't want to happen and focusing more on what we do and helping the youth get there is the correct answer. 

Youth programming, Proposition S for at-risk youth

Kemet Hetep, YMCA Bayers executive director, said the center activates 11 to 14-year-olds for change and then maintain those relationships to help them become adults.

He said the center strategically helps teens in several areas of their development, but they create "a safe place" first.

He said safe spaces involve an ecosystem of support for youth mentally, physically, academically, and emotionally. 

Hetep said the center participates in community events with food, music, game trucks, and even laser tag. Sports and arts activities are also available. 

“They don't have to worry about the pressures of the environment they need to be in,” he said. “Make them just be kids.”

Hetep said that after they create safe spaces, then they build relationships with youth and their families to implement life-changing youth programming:

• Booker T. DuBois Achievers Program from April 2-May 21 at no cost.
• Sons of Shaka Rites-of-Passage from March 22 to May 17 at no cost.
• Y Achievers Spring Quarter from April 2 to May 21 at no cost. 
• Fornite - Esports Spring League from April 3 to May 24. Member cost is $55 and non-member cost is $99.
• STEAM Family Night: Robotics on April 26 at no cost. 

Hetep also said the center divides youth programs into four pathways: college education, business entrepreneurship, military service, or skilled trades. 

“We the ecosystem that can exist -- it has to exist at home, in school and any other spaces that those youth are in,” he said. 

Several St. Louis-based youth programs, including those focusing on crime prevention, received funding from the City of St. Louis in their efforts to curb violence. 

Hetep confirmed that YMCA partnered with the City of St Louis and received funding from Proposition S, a youth crime prevention fund. 

According to the City of St. Louis, the 22nd Judicial Circuit and Family Court-Juvenile Division were awarded $15,000 from Resolution 172, introduced on Jan. 27, for crime prevention. 

For a complete list of programs that received funding for crime prevention, click here.