UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. — Eight days after a man was struck by multiple rounds of gunfire in University City, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office announced criminal charges against the victim's ex-girlfriend and two others.
The victim's ex-girlfriend from Beverly Hills, 22-year-old Diamond Johnson has been charged with first-degree assault alongside the two men who were with her when the shooting happened, Pagedale 20-year-old Pierre Watson-Johnson, and Wellston 29-year-old Michael Buress, according to written release the prosecuting attorney's office shared Friday.
Watson-Johnson and Buress were also charged with armed criminal action.
According to the release, University City police officers were sent to check the area around Avalon and Sutter avenues after reports of shots fired on Aug. 31.
There, they found the victim wounded multiple times by gunfire. The victim told police that his ex-girlfriend, Johnson, had shot him. Investigators found several shell casings at the crime scene.
Police officers were able to reach Johnson. She told police she reached out to Watson-Johnson about confronting the victim. Watson-Johnson then reached out to Buress.
Johnson and Watson-Johnson would later pick up Buress in Johnson's car before they drove to the victim's home, the release said. The victim wasn't there, but as they were leaving, they saw the victim at Avalon and Sutter avenues.
That's when Buress opened fire, Johnson told police. Buress and Watson-Johnson then fled the scene while Johnson drove away.
“Violence is very seldom the solution to any problem, and gun violence in particular creates so much suffering and so many problems to people on both sides of the gun,” said St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell.
Nearby home surveillance camera's captured footage of the victim being shot. Johnson told police that Watson-Johnson and Buress had handguns, but she didn't carry one.
The sentencing range for the class A felony first-degree assault is 10-30 years or life. The sentencing range for a first offense of armed criminal action is 3-15 years, which must be served consecutively to the punishment for the crime committed while using the weapon.
Johnson's bond was set at $100,000. Watson-Johnson's and Buress' bonds were set at $150,000. The court set all bonds as cash only.
