ST ANN, Mo. — A woman was arrested and charged in the “execution-style” killing of a man Wednesday morning in St. Ann, police said.
St. Louis County prosecutors charged Rebecca Ann McCullough with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, unlawful possession of a firearm and tampering with evidence in a felony prosecution.
Police said McCullough, 61, admitted to shooting Lowenski Ames, 22, with a .38-caliber revolver at a home on the 10600 block of St. Veronica Court. Prior to the shooting, McCullough had consumed a large amount of vodka.
After shooting Ames, McCullough fled the scene in a car and tossed the gun onto the side of Link Road near the intersection with Adie Road, about 1.3 miles from the scene.
McCullough then returned home and called 911 to say she found her “son” dead.
There were no signs of a struggle inside the home, and the only injury was the gunshot wound to Ames’ head, police said.
The two had lived together intermittently at the home on St. Veronica Court, and Ames had moved back in days earlier. McCullough worked as a home health care aide for one of Ames’ relatives.
Two days before the shooting, McCullough pointed a gun at Ames and threatened to kill him, according to charging documents.
Around the same time, Ames told a friend that “if I’m found dead, my granny did it,” St. Ann police Chief Aaron Jimenez said.
Jimenez said that even though McCullough and Ames referred to each other as “son” and “granny,” the two were not related.
During an interview with police, McCullough admitted she had possession in July of the gun found on Link Road. Photographs on McCullough's cellphone corroborated her statement.
McCullough was also charged separately with unlawful possession of a firearm. She was convicted of second-degree assault in October 1987.
McCullough was being held at the St. Louis County Jail on a $500,000 bond. Court records did not indicate if she had an attorney. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Sept. 26.
