Suspect charged in stabbing death

LADUE, Mo. -- A St. Louis-area man was charged Saturday in the fatal stabbing of a teenager whose body was found days earlier by a jogger in this posh St. Louis suburb.

Derringer Wellington, 22, of Rock Hill, was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of Rodney Rankins Jr., 16, of Hazelwood. Rankins' body was found Wednesday along an abandoned railroad right of way near Old Warson Country Club in Ladue.

Authorities said Rankins had been stabbed several times in the chest, piercing his heart, apparently during a dispute about money.

Wellington and another man, also 22, were arrested without incident Friday night while walking in south St. Louis. The status of any possible charges against the second man was not immediately clear Saturday.

Ladue previously has had just two murders in the past 50 years.