ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — A man was convicted Thursday, years after he shot and injured a woman as she was driving on Interstate 270.
A jury convicted 37-year-old Deandre Cothran on one count each of unlawful use of a weapon by shooting at or from a moving vehicle, armed criminals action and unlawful possession of a firearm in connection with the shooting of a woman on April 24, 2020.
Des Peres police got a call about a shooting victim inside a vehicle at 11:54 p.m. along the northbound lanes of Interstate 270 not far from Manchester Road.
The victim told police the man opened fire on her. Investigators said they believe he fired at least six rounds at her, striking the passenger side of her car and her windshield, according to documents obtained by 5 On Your Side.
The victim, a 911 dispatcher, was struck by at least one round in her right arm. She was treated and released from the hospital.
The victim was able to provide a vehicle description and partial license plate, which helped area police track down the car near the main entrance to Mercy Hospital. When officers approached the car and asked Cothran to get out, they spotted two spent shell casings on the driver's side floorboards.
Officers later found a holstered 9 mm handgun on the curb of the exit ramp from eastbound Interstate 64 onto Ballas Road. The gun had one round in the chamber and one in the magazine. The holster had an additional loaded 9 mm magazine, according to court documents.
The live rounds in the firearm have the same brand head stamping as the two shell casings found in Cothran’s car. Video surveillance showed he pulled into the hospital’s parking lot about four minutes after the victim called 911, according to the documents.
The Cothran's DNA was retrieved from the gun found on the exit ramp, and lab testing showed that the spent cartridges in the defendant's vehicle had been fired from that gun.
At the time of the shooting, Cothran also was out on bond for allegedly stabbing a man at the Boonville Correctional in October 2019. He has previous convictions for robbery and armed criminal action, according to court documents.
Sentencing is set for Oct. 6.
