Fourth teen charged as adult in St. Louis hammer killing

ST. LOUIS -- The last of four teenagers who St. Louis police say beat a Bosnian immigrant to death with hammers last year was arraigned Wednesday in the killing, a day after being charged as an adult.

Travis Kidd, 17, faces charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. He's jailed on $300,000 cash bond and his next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 13. Online court records did not show whether Kidd has an attorney.

Police say Zemir Begic, 32, was heading home from a bar with a friend and his girlfriend in the early-morning hours of Nov. 30 when several juveniles approached and began damaging his car. Investigators say Begic got out to confront the teens and was pummeled with hammers. Begic, who suffered injuries to his head, abdomen, face and mouth, died at a hospital.

A motive for the attack remains unclear.

Kidd has been in juvenile detention since at least December. In certifying Kidd as an adult, Circuit Judge Jimmie Edwards noted Kidd tested positive for marijuana when he was admitted to a juvenile detention center and has had more than 20 reports of aggressive behavior while detained.

Trials are pending for the other three defendants, all of whom are charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action.

Begic and his family came to the United States from Bosnia in 1996, living first in Utica, New York, before moving to Waterloo, Iowa, and eventually to St. Louis, his family has said.

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com