ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — A St. Louis man was convicted of fatally shooting four people, including a music producer who had worked with him on rap songs and a 10-year-old, while robbing them.
Jurors found 24-year-old Ja’Vonne Dupree guilty late Friday of four counts of first-degree murder and a string of other charges. The conviction came after four days of evidence and arguments and deliberating almost to midnight.
The murders happened on Aug. 24, 2017, in Glasgow Village. The jury decided that Dupree shot and killed each of the victims, robbed the victims of their electronics and clothing, picked up multiple shell casings, and fled the murder scene in one of the victims’ car with the stolen items.
The victims were identified as Deandre Kelly, 18, Patricia Steward, 56, and her sons, Joseph Corley, 20, and Terrence Dehart, 10.
Family members testified this week that Dupree was a homeless youth and sometimes slept in the basement where Steward, a hip-hop producer, stored many of her designer clothing and shoes. The shooting happened after he was kicked out of the home.
Authorities said Dupree had three pairs of shoes that came from the crime scene when police arrested him four months later in Columbia, Missouri. Police also relied on Dupree’s social media posts to link him to the killings.
“The unimaginable suffering of an amazing and loving family does not end with these guilty verdicts, but at least they know that justice has been served and that they were intimately involved in the success of this investigation and prosecution,” said St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell in a press release.
The St. Louis County prosecutor’s office said years ago that it would seek the death penalty against Dupree but decided against it after Bell took over the office in 2019. He opposes the death penalty.
Sentencing is set for Dec. 3. The charges carry a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
