ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis man was sentenced to life in prison after a jury convicted him of killing his girlfriend and her children in 2021.
Ronald Marr, 36, was found guilty last month of three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of armed criminal action in connection with the deadly shooting of his girlfriend Kanisha Hemphill and her children Journee, 8, and Ja'kari, 1, on Feb. 4, 2021. On Friday, St. Louis Circuit Judge Paula P. Bryant sentenced him to three consecutive terms of life in prison without parole plus 45 years.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department responded to a “shots fired” call at around 7 a.m. in the 4100 block of South Grand Boulevard in St. Louis’ Dutchtown neighborhood. When officers arrived, they found a 1-year-old girl, an 8-year-old girl and a 30-year-old woman suffering gunshot wounds. All three victims died, St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden confirmed.
Marr is Hemphill's ex-boyfriend, according to charging documents. Family members told 5 On Your Side he is also the youngest child's father.
After the murders, police said Marr discarded his cell phone and purchased a new one. He then bought a Greyhound bus ticket and fled the state of Missouri, documents stated. He was captured about 100 miles away in Illinois.
Police records show officers responded to that address twice within three hours two days before the shooting for a domestic disturbance.
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