BEVERLY HILLS, Mo. — Two men were charged with murder late Thursday in the fatal shooting of another man a day earlier at a north St. Louis County grocery store.
North County Police Cooperative Lt. Mark Brown said Warren Smith Jr. and Marcel Payne walked inside the Beverly Hills Supermarket on the 6700 block of Natural Bridge Rd. shortly before 6:40 p.m. Wednesday and approached Kardayé Moore.
Moore, 23, of the 1400 block of Union Blvd. in St. Louis, was standing at a register near the front of the store.
Payne then walked behind Moore and began punching his head. As Moore tried to free himself, Smith Jr. fired several shots, police said.
The gunfire struck Moore several times in his stomach and chest. He was taken by ambulance to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, where doctors pronounced him dead.
Photos: Fatal shooting at north St. Louis County grocery store
Police released several still photos taken from video that appear to show the altercation in progress.
North County Police Cooperative assistant police chief Maj. Ron Martin said while Moore was being assaulted, he took a gun out of a bag he was carrying and fired several shots.
Payne, 28, of the 6300 block of North Dr. in University City, was injured when he was struck in the arm. He was treated at and released from an area hospital.
Both men also are facing assault charges. Payne has an additional charge of armed criminal action.
As shots rang out inside, a surveillance camera outside the store's entrance captured customers running from the store, including a girl police said was 4 years old.
"This goes to show you about the violence happening in our communities. It's affecting us all," Martin said. "It appears she's dodging bullets as the glass door breaks over her."
None of the nearly 10-15 other people inside the store was injured during the shooting. Police said multiple shell casings were recovered.
The entire incident was over in about 20 seconds, Martin said, adding the first officers arrived within one minute of the call being dispatched.
'"I'm just happy they're safe. Even though it's a little store, this is our store for the community," said customer Marc McConnell.
A search of Missouri court records showed Payne was sentenced in January 2013 to seven years in the Missouri Department of Corrections after he pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and armed criminal action in connection with an incident in July 2011.
He was also sentenced in June 2016 to 47 days in jail on charges of tampering with a motor vehicle and resisting/interfering with an arrest in St. Louis in November 2015.
In addition to charges stemming from Wednesday's grocery store shooting, Payne is currently facing charges from June 2021 for property damage and resisting/interfering with a felony arrest in University City.
Smith Jr., 31, the alleged shooter, has several municipal violations, including operating a vehicle without insurance and failure to register a vehicle, according to state court records. He lives on Ridgelawn Court in Florissant.
Martin said neither suspect offered a motive for the shooting during question. Payne, he said, invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Smith Jr. is being held on a $1.5 million bond; Payne is being held on a $1 million bond, both at the St. Louis County Justice Center in Clayton.