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Man pleads guilty to 2022 St. Louis County crash that seriously injured mom, killed 2-year-old son

“No number of years in prison can ever compensate for the loss of an innocent life at the heartbreaking age of two," Wesley Bell said.

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — A 31-year-old man pleaded guilty Friday after fleeing from police in a stolen car before crashing into three people, including a mother and her 2-year-old son, in 2022. 

Leon Russell, of Spanish Lake., pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, two counts of assault, and other charges in connection to two separate crashes. 

His sentencing is set for Aug. 31. 

The crash happened on the morning of April 22, 2022.

According to St. Louis County prosecutors, Russell, 31, admitted to driving with a suspended license in a stolen Dodge Challenger that had just been used in an armed carjacking in St. Louis City. He also admitted he was at West Florissant Avenue and Hudson Road when officers attempted to stop the Challenger he was driving. 

St. Louis County police said Russell then crashed into a black Hyundai sedan as it was waiting to make a left turn onto Hudson Drive from northbound West Florissant Avenue.

The Hyundai, which was occupied by the mother and her son Jace Richardson, hit a utility pole and caught fire. Both people were thrown from the car, St. Louis Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Tracy Panus said.

Panus said both the mother and boy were taken to a St. Louis area hospital with serious, life-threatening injuries. The woman sustained burns to over 80% of her body and is paralyzed.  

Jace later died. 

Russell then lost control of the Dodge, which struck a white Oldsmobile sedan traveling northbound on West Florissant Avenue. The driver of that car suffered minor injuries, Panus said.

Credit: St. Louis County Jail

Several minutes before the crash, St. Louis County police officers in a marked patrol vehicle had attempted to pull over the Dodge on northbound Riverview Boulevard near Interstate 270 after realizing it was taken in a carjacking in the 1400 block of Cochran Pl. in St. Louis.

The carjacking victim told St. Louis police he was sitting in the car when two men with guns demanded he get out at around 11 p.m.

Russell fled from the officers and "evaded spike strips" that had been deployed. He also traveled the wrong way into oncoming traffic, ran red lights, and ignored stop signs, police said.

Panus said the department's pursuit policy was followed during the chase.

"It was taken in a carjacking, so it does fit our pursuit criteria," Panus said.

“No number of years in prison can ever compensate for the loss of an innocent life at the heartbreaking age of two, but we pray Jace’s family and all of the victims feel some measure of solace knowing that the person who recklessly caused their suffering is being held accountable for his actions and will spend more than two decades behind bars as a result," said St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell.

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