ST. LOUIS — A 17-year-old has been charged in the kidnapping and murder of a St. Louis man who was found dead inside a burning house.
But LaShawn Clayburn wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger, police said in charging documents obtained by 5 On Your Side.
According to the court records, on Christmas Eve, Chrishaun Hilliard drove in his vehicle with two unnamed suspects to Clayburn’s home. Once there, Clayburn saw one of the unnamed people pull out a pistol and order Hilliard into the backseat of his car.
Hillard, Clayburn and other two suspects drove around the St. Louis area—and even stopped at two grocery stores—all while the unnamed suspects held Hilliard at gunpoint in the car.
They eventually went to a vacant house in the 5900 block of Wabada in north St. Louis. The house used to belong to the grandparents of one of the suspects. That suspect used the pistol to shoot and kill Hilliard, Clayburn told police.
That was on Christmas Eve. Hilliard’s car was seen on license plate recognition cameras in St. Louis for weeks after the fatal shooting.
Several weeks went by before Hilliard, 26, was found.
On Jan. 17, firefighters responded to a fire at the vacant house. Once the flames were out, firefighters discovered Hilliard’s body inside.
Clayburn, 17, is charged with one count each of second-degree murder, first-degree robbery, facilitating a kidnapping and armed criminal action.
Investigators have not named the other two people suspected in this case. The person who pulled the trigger is not in custody and has not been charged, according to the prosecutor's office.
