Suspect charged in fatal shooting at mall in St. Louis County

RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- A teenage suspect was charged Thursday with second-degree murder and other crimes in connection with a fatal shooting inside a large suburban St. Louis shopping mall.

Eighteen-year-old Jaron Lemmitt is also charged with one count of first-degree assault and two counts of armed criminal action. Lemmitt is jailed on $1 million cash-only bond. He was arrested Wednesday night.

The shooting happened around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at the St. Louis Galleria in Richmond Heights. The man killed was identified Thursday as Jaquan Steed, 21. A second shooting victim was treated at a hospital and released.

A probable-cause statement said two groups of people were arguing on the second floor of the mall when the group that included Lemmitt got onto an escalator going down and was followed by the victim's group.

The probable-cause statement said the argument turned physical and Steed was shot in the head. The second victim was struck in the arm.

The shooting forced the mall to close and sent customers fleeing.

"We are disheartened and angered by the senseless incident that occurred in our shopping center this afternoon," a mall spokeswoman told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in an email.