ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s Office re-issued robbery and gun charges against a man three days after prosecutors told defense attorneys and a judge that the victim was dead.
Note: The video above is from Feb. 23.
Elijah Graham was supposed to go to trial Tuesday for a 2020 armed robbery in which he, and two other men, were accused of robbing a man at gunpoint. The I-Team told Graham’s attorney Wednesday that the victim is alive.
That victim’s father, Jim Dandridge, called Gardner’s office Wednesday asking why Graham’s charges were dismissed and his son was listed as deceased. He also said Gardner’s office never informed him of Graham’s trial date.
Graham, along with Daniel Riley and Tyrese Chandler, were all charged in connection with the August 2020 crime. Riley went on to violate the terms of his bond, which included GPS monitoring more than 90 times and Gardner’s office never filed a motion to revoke his bond, or objected in court to him remaining on house arrest, according to court records and transcripts.
Gardner said Thursday her office made “oral motions” on at least three occasions to revoke Riley’s bond, but Judge Bryan Hettenbach refused to do so.
Riley is now charged with causing an accident that cost 17-year-old Janae Edmondson both of her legs. She was in town from Tennessee Saturday for a volleyball tournament in downtown St. Louis when she was crushed between two cars in front of her parents.
Riley was supposed to go to trial in July 2022. A judge’s order noted victims, witnesses and defense was ready to proceed, but Assistant Circuit Attorney Natalia Ogurkiewicz told the judge the state was, “not ready.”
She then dismissed the charges against him, refiled them and sent the case to a grand jury to determine whether he should be indicted, again. That happened in January. Riley went on to violate his monitoring system at least nine more times after that – including the day police say he sped through downtown St. Louis and caused the chain-reaction crash that severely injured Edmondson.
Gardner’s office told the I-Team the robbery victim was deceased, and that’s why her office dismissed the charges on the day the trial was to begin.
Three days later, spokeswoman Allison Hawk released a statement, which read: “The initial confusion around the victim’s status was caused by a computer system error. A victim in a different case with a similar or the same name is deceased. The system incorrectly electronically attached the death certificate notice to all victims with similar names, including this case.”
Charges against the third suspect in this case – Chandler – still stand.
Court records show Gardner’s prosecutor on the case “became ill,” on Feb. 14, so a hearing has been continued to March 2 to set a trial date.
Presiding Judge Elizabeth Hogan sent a letter to Gardner’s office after that prosecutor suffered a medical emergency while in court, waiting for a trial to begin. In it, she said it was the third medical episode the prosecutor had suffered in less than 12 months causing delays for at least 73 A felonies and 13 murder trials.
“While the court certainly does not fault him personally for this situation, it is a fact that his medical issues have already caused delays in reaching dispositions in his cases,” according to a copy of the letter obtained by the I-Team. “Further, almost all of the defendants on his cases are confined.
“As a result, both victims and defendants are being prevented from having their day in court.”
Gardner issued a statement, which read: "The CAO has appropriate resources to work with the courts to ensure all cases are handled properly. We are confident that we can cover all cases with the leadership of our Chief Trial Marvin Teer. In every case, the Circuit Attorney's Office is dedicated to ensuring that the office carries out its duty to prosecute criminal cases in a manner that seeks justice on behalf of the residents of the City of St. Louis."
Gardner has not responded to Hogan’s letter.
Dandridge said he still has not heard from Gardner’s office about charges being refiled against Graham, or about Chandler’s upcoming hearing.
Graham, who was supposed to go to trial Tuesday, now has a warrant out for his arrest and prosecutors have requested he be held without a bond. Previously, prosecutors allowed him to be on house arrest with GPS monitoring.
Now, the Dandridges and Graham will have to wait for a new trial date.