Police: Suspect in Sikeston homicide robbed victim's girlfriend in November

One of the men suspected of murdering a Sikeston, Missouri, man Sunday had been involved in a robbery and assault at the victim's home in November, police reported Tuesday.

Gailon Lamarous Applewhite, 29, and William Henry Applewhite III, 27, both of Sikeston, are wanted on murder and armed criminal action charges in connection with the shooting death of Christopher Qurvon West, 31.

Gailon Applewhite

William H. Applewhite III

A news release from Capt. James McMillen of the Sikeston Department of Public Safety states Gailon Applewhite and 26-year-old Jonathan S. Wright of Sikeston were charged with first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, armed criminal action, second-degree assault, unlawful possession of a firearm and felonious restraint in connection with a Nov. 15 robbery at West's home.

West was not home when the two men kicked in the front door, punched his girlfriend in the face and held her against her will for about 30 minutes before leaving with her phone, wallet and clothing, McMillen wrote.

The assault left West's girlfriend with broken bones around her eye, McMillen wrote.

Stephen Townsend

In a probable-cause affidavit filed Monday in Scott County Circuit Court, on Dec. 29, a woman -- identified in McMillen's news release Tuesday as West's girlfriend -- told police she was "very afraid" because she had been shot at in retaliation for reporting the assault and robbery.

The woman told police a man and woman she had never met before approached her in early December at Wal-Mart in Sikeston, and the man -- who introduced himself as Stephen Townsend -- told her, "'I come in peace.' He explained he heard what had happened to her and was told the suspects in the case had long dreadlocks like him. He wanted to make sure she knew he had nothing to do with the crime," detective Flint Dees of the Sikeston Department of Public Safety wrote in the affidavit.

The victim found Townsend's behavior "extremely odd" because she never had seen him before and never told anyone she thought he might have been involved, Dees wrote.

The victim told police she was driving west on Malone Street in Sikeston about 10:30 a.m. Dec. 27 when she met a four-door, burgundy Chevrolet and recognized the driver as Townsend, who did a U-turn and began following her as she turned onto School Street and then Ruth Street, where Townsend began gaining on her, Dees wrote.

At the intersection of Frisco and Ruth streets, a passenger hanging out the window of Townsend's car fired six or seven shots at her, Dees wrote.

The woman picked Townsend from a lineup of six men of similar age and appearance, Dees wrote.

Stephen Kye Townsend, 23, of Sikeston was charged Monday with first-degree assault, armed criminal action and victim tampering in connection with the case.

He was arrested Monday in the 800 block of West Gladys Street, where someone approached detectives who were searching for him in an apartment complex and reported two men -- one armed with a rifle -- had just shot a gun and were fleeing south from the area, McMillen wrote in the news release Tuesday.

After chasing them on foot for several blocks, police arrested Townsend and another man, Marquon Akeem Davis, 25, of Sikeston, McMillen reported.

According to the news release, Townsend and Davis were running from police when the gun went off.

Upon searching Davis, police found a controlled substance in the crotch of his pants, McMillen wrote.

Davis was charged Tuesday with possession of a controlled substance; possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute; tampering with physical evidence; assault on a law-enforcement officer; and bringing a controlled substance into a jail, online court records show.

Davis' bond was set at $100,000 cash only, and Townsend's bond was set at $50,000 cash only.

Davis has several prior drug offenses, and in July, he pleaded guilty to participating in street gang activities and was sentenced to 60 days in jail, online court records show.

Townsend pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery in 2007, and in June, he was charged with two counts of distribution of a controlled substance, online court records show. The drug case is pending in Scott County Circuit Court.

Gailon Applewhite's criminal history began in 2001, when he was charged with sexual misconduct involving a 13-year-old girl.

Applewhite -- who was 16 at the time of the misconduct -- pleaded guilty in 2004 and received a one-year suspended sentence.

In 2010, a Scott County circuit judge denied his petition for removal from Missouri's sex offender registry.

Police still are searching for Gailon and William Henry Applewhite, who are considered armed and extremely dangerous.

Anyone with information about their whereabouts is asked to call Sikeston police at 573-471-4711 or the

CrimeStoppers hotline at 573-471-1500.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Sikeston, Mo.