Suspect in St. Louis officer's slaying has long crime record

ST. LOUIS -- The man charged with first-degree murder Tuesday in the fatal shooting of a St. Louis police officer has a long history of violent crime and missed a court appearance last month in Florida, where he is accused of false imprisonment and sexual battery.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner announced charges against Thomas Kinworthy Jr., 43, in the death of 29-year-old officer Tamarris L. Bohannon. Kinworthy is jailed without bond at the St. Louis City Justice Center. In addition to the murder charge, he is charged with assault, burglary, resisting arrest, unlawful possession of a firearm and three counts of armed criminal action. It wasn't immediately clear whether Kinworthy had an attorney.

Bohannon responded to a call Saturday afternoon after an armed man ordered a family out of their home and barricaded himself inside. Officers were searching for another reported shooting victim when Bohannon was shot in the head and a second officer was struck in the leg, chief John Hayden said.

Bohannon died Sunday. The second officer, identified Tuesday as Arlando Bailey, is expected to recover. They were the seventh and eighth St. Louis officers shot since June. Bohannon was Black, as is Bailey.

Kinworthy, who is white, has a criminal record dating to the 1990s, when he spent nine months in prison for a drug crime in St. Louis County.

Thomas Kinworthy Jr.

Court records show Kinworthy was convicted in a 1998 road rage incident in Brevard County, Florida. After the car Kinworthy was in rammed a Ford Mustang, Kinworthy shot the Mustang driver, causing him to lose three fingers. Kinworthy was convicted in 2001 and served six years in prison.

Brevard County court records show Kinworthy was facing charges again in Brevard County, this time for sexual battery, false imprisonment and other counts. He was accused of allegedly choking a man inside a home, holding him against his will, and trying to sexually assault him in August 2019.

Kinworthy was arrested after the investigation was completed in January, when he also was charged with being a felon in possession of firearms after several guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition were allegedly found in his car.

Kinworthy was due in court in Brevard County last month but failed to show up and a warrant was issued for his arrest, according to court records and a spokesman for the Brevard County Sheriff's Office.

It wasn't clear when Kinworthy arrived in Missouri.

Bohannon, known by those close to him as "Bo," had been with the department 3 1/2 years. He was "a hero to many, but most importantly to his loving wife and three incredible children," read a note from his family posted on the police department Twitter page.

Mayor Lyda Krewson called Bohannon's death a "horrific reminder of the dangers our brave men and women in law enforcement willingly and selflessly face everyday to protect and serve."

A probable-cause statement provided by Gardner's office said police were called Saturday evening to a report of a shooting in an alley. As a couple was on the phone with police reporting the shooting, Kinworthy came inside armed with a pistol, the statement said.

The couple escaped through a back door, and Bohannon and his partner went to the scene. As officers were walking to the front of the couple's home, Bohannon was shot in the head from a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun, the statement said.

Several other officers arrived, including Bailey, who was shot in the leg, the probable-cause statement said. Another officer reported the shot that struck Bailey was fired from a second-story window of the home.

A standoff lasted for nearly 12 hours, ending around 5:30 a.m. Sunday when a SWAT team entered the home and found Kinworthy in a second-floor bathroom, armed with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun, the statement said.

The other man who was reportedly shot was never found.

This year has been especially dangerous in St. Louis for residents and police alike. The rate of killings in 2020 is on a near-record pace. Things are so dire the federal government in early August sent 50 agents to battle crime.

Six other officers have been shot in addition to Bohannon and Bailey, including four struck during a violent June 1 protest that followed George Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police. Two of those officers were shot in the leg, one in the foot and one in the arm.

An officer was shot by a suspect with a sawed-off shotgun July 26. Another was shot by a teenager Aug. 2.

Among those officers, only Bohannon died.

Thirty-three officers have been shot to death in the U.S. so far this year, a 6% decrease from the Jan. 1 to Aug. 31 period last year, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Another 32 officers died in traffic accidents, up 10% from last year. Twenty-one officers have died this year during other incidents and job-related illnesses, down 40% from last year.

AP reporter David Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, provided information for this story.