ST. CHARLES, Mo. | A St. Louis-area man shot to death his girlfriend, her two young children and her mother in the home where they all lived together, authorities said Saturday. He later died in the hospital from fatal wounds.
The scene had erupted into a shootout with officers as he fled and was captured several hours later in a convenience store.
Prosecutors had filed 15 charges against Richard Darren Emery of St. Charles, Missouri, including first-degree murder, assault and attempted robbery before he died in the hospital. Emery, 46, abandoned his own pickup and attempted unsuccessfully to steal a woman’s car while on the run, attacking her as well, according to authorities.
Emery was being held in a local hospital with two gunshot wounds that authorities said did not appear self-inflicted and most likely came from the shootout with officers. St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney Tim Lohmar said investigators were not yet aware of Emery’s motive for the shootings as of Saturday evening.
“We may never know,” Lohmar said during a news conference. “This one in particular was the worst example of a domestic violence case. Anytime you have a domestic violence case you worry about the safety of the victim, and this would be your worst nightmare.”
Officials said St. Charles has dealt with a spate of deadly domestic violence incidents recently — with six deaths in the past eight days that Lohmar said are unrelated.
Officials said police received a call just before midnight Friday about a shooting at the home where Emery and the victims lived. Lohmar said officers later found three victims dead of gunshot wounds in one bedroom. They were Zoe Kasten, 8; her brother, Jonathan Kasten, 10; and their grandmother, Jane Moeckel, 61.
Officers found the fourth victim, a 39-year-old woman, in the home’s master bedroom, shot but still alive, Lohmar said. She was taken to an area hospital, where she died.
Authorities did not name the fourth victim but described her as the children’s mother, the daughter of the older woman and Emery’s girlfriend.
The initial call came to police came from inside the house, and Lohmar said investigators believe Moeckel made it.