Willie James Herndon, 43, of Texas, already accused of fatally shooting 17-year-old Alyssa Wilson as she drove on Interstate 170 in Overland, Missouri, on 14 October, has now been charged in a second shooting incident on a highway, according to federal court documents.
Wilson was on her way to a Halloween party at St Louis Zoo, called Boo at the Zoo, when a suspect fired a single shot into the back of her Buick Encore. The shot struck her in the back, incapacitated her, and sent her crashing into a concrete highway median, according to prosecutors. She was pronounced dead at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Second Incident Days Earlier
Federal documents show that Herndon has been charged in a shooting that occurred on 11 October, just a few days before Wilson's death. On that day, St Louis metropolitan police received a report that a vehicle was shot just after exiting Interstate 55 in Missouri. Surveillance footage captured a white SUV fleeing the scene, a vehicle that matched the appearance of Herndon's Buick Enclave.
A shell casing was also recovered from the scene. Prosecutors said they were conducting ballistics tests to determine if it was fired from the same weapon that killed Wilson.
Tracking and Arrest
In a federal criminal complaint, prosecutors describe tracking what appeared to be Herndon's Buick Enclave from the first shooting incident on 11 October, then to the scene of Wilson's death on 14 October, and finally to a Days Inn in Caseyville, Illinois, on 16 October.
There, prosecutors approached Herndon's wife Taiya Herndon, 45, and were speaking to her when Herndon emerged from the hotel room and began to flee. As he was arrested, he was screaming words about a shooting, prosecutors said.
Inside the hotel room, prosecutors said they found an ABC-15 rifle in plain view, ammunition that matched the kind used in Wilson's shooting, a receipt from a gas station near the scene of Wilson's death on Interstate 170, two license plates, and handwritten notes describing police vehicles Herndon believed were tracking him.
Charges and Reaction
Federal prosecutors in Illinois have charged Herndon with being a felon in possession of a firearm. He has separately been charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in St Louis county, Missouri. His federal public defender did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Wilson's father, Robert Hickman, spoke as state charges were announced: "Alyssa was 17, excited about her life, excited about her future. She had 60 days until she turned 18, and we were getting ready to take our first family vacation together to go to Disney for her to see her favorite person in the world, Princess Tiana, and unfortunately, she's not going to get to do that any more. This was a senseless act."
