More than five years after death on strip club parking lot, family awaits justice

For nearly four years, reckless homicide charges have been pending against the son of a deceased Washington Park strip club owner, and there’s no end in sight.

In October 2009, a 23-year-old father of two was run over by a pickup truck and killed outside City Nights, a now defunct strip club in East St. Louis.

St. Clair County State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly took over the reckless homicide investigation involving the alleged driver — 32-year-old Reginald O. Allen of Dupo — when he took office in December 2010. The case had been taken “under advisement” by his predecessor, Bob Haida, but no charges were brought.

However, in September 2011, Kelly’s prosecutors charged Allen with reckless homicide involving the death of Anthony Rice. According to police reports, Allen was a bouncer at City Nights. Other court documents show he often worked as a bouncer at Miss Kitty’s, a strip club in Washington Park owned by a family member.

Two civil cases in the matter were recently settled, but the criminal charges remain pending. Some have questioned why it has taken so long.

Allen’s criminal record on file in St. Clair County Court shows arrests and charges for 30 felonies and 22 misdemeanors, but few convictions. He went to prison in 2005 for possessing anhydrous ammonia, an illegal substance that stemmed from an arrest for using his car to drive into and injure a motorcyclist.

The numerous criminal complaints filed against Allen alleged that he attacked people in their vehicles and knocked out the windows or otherwise damaged five vehicles including two owned by women: a 1985 Ford Crown Victoria, 1998 Dodge Neon, a 1984 Chevrolet S-10 pick up, a 1991 Volkswagen Jetta and a 1989 Cadillac. Weapons for the alleged vehicle attacks included fists, feet, a glass jar and a wooden club.

The story of the melee that broke out on the night of Oct. 3, 2009, when Rice and his brother, who are black, attempted to enter City Nights, involves allegations of racism. Rice’s brother told police that the pair were met with racial epithets and ultimately violence.

Allen, who is white, is charged with killing Rice by running over him with a Ford F-150 pickup on the parking lot of City Nights. The defense in the case has filed motions that argue Allen did not drive in a reckless manner.

Kelly keeps a large photograph of Rice on display in his office, in a spot where he can see it when he looks up while sitting at his desk.

But after nearly four years of winding its way through St. Clair County Circuit Court, the reckless homicide case against Allen is still pending. It is scheduled for trial in August. But trial then is unlikely, according to the defense.

“I don’t think there is any way it’s going to trial in August,” said Belleville attorney Tom Daley, who represents Allen. “There are preliminary matters that need to be resolved.”

Allen could not be reached for comment.

While Kelly said he could not comment about evidence or trial strategy, he said, “Anthony’s picture is up in my office and his family and I are not giving up on this case. We have been prepared for trial, and we will be prepared for trial.”

Since being charged with reckless homicide and while out on $100,000 bond, Allen was charged in January with “mob action.” This arrest was in connection with an alleged assault of a woman who works as a stripper at Miss Kitty’s in 2012. The woman said Allen dragged her into a restroom and beat her while allowing others to physically assault her.

The mob action charge was filed just before the statute of limitations was about to expire. Despite the new charge, Allen’s bond was continued.

J. Justin Meehan, a St. Louis attorney who was Rice’s uncle, said that as long as Allen is free, he will be a danger.

“If Belleville wants a mad dog like Reggie Allen running around, they can have him, “ Meehan said.

Meehan, who has been pushing for years for a resolution of the criminal case, said the delay has eroded any confidence he had in the justice system in St. Clair County.

“We believe that Belleville will tolerate white misbehavior as long as the victim is black. ...We have no confidence in the justice system in Belleville, but we will not give up. We will stand in front of the courthouse. We will walk. We want justice,” Meehan said.

A wrongful-death lawsuit brought by the law firm of Lloyd M. Cueto, P.C., over Rice’s death was settled in December for $750,000 on behalf of the minor sons of Rice. The proceeds of about $500,000, after legal costs, will be split between Rice’s two sons and placed in a trust until they become adults.

A lawsuit brought by the woman who said she was beaten also was settled, but the award, if any, has not been made public.

“There’s nothing we can do about the criminal case. The family and victims have done what they can do in those cases,” said Lloyd Cueto, who handled the wrongful death suit and the civil battery suit. “We just control what we can and that’s the civil cases.”

Cueto said settling the civil lawsuits prior to resolving the criminal charges is unusual.

Bill Schroeder, a professor at the Southern Illinois University Carbondale Law School, said the settling of the civil suit will have little effect on the criminal charges.

“Settlements have limited relevance in terms of admitting anything. And they’re probably not admissible,” Schroeder said.

However, Allen’s violent criminal record could play a role in the criminal charges. The obvious would be if he took the witness stand. Then some convictions could be the subject of cross examination in open court.

Another way is if Circuit Judge Jan Fiss, the presiding judge in Allen’s case, allowed the prosecution to bring up prior convictions to show “intent or common scheme,” that Allen had behaved recklessly in the past concerning crimes for which he was convicted, Schroeder said. “I would say the chances for that are good.”

A prior conviction that could apply if this strategy is allowed involved Allen’s conviction in 2005 for possessing anhydrous ammonia — a key component of the illegal drug methamphetamine.

On July 22, 2004, according to criminal complaints filed by the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department, Allen beat a man who was stopped on his Harley Davidson motorcycle, and then drove his vehicle into the man, causing him to be injured.

However, the aggravated battery charge with a “deadly weapon,” Allen’s motor vehicle, was dismissed when he pleaded guilty to the drug charge and was sentenced to three years in state prison.

This story was originally published July 11, 2015 at 4:45 PM with the headline "More than five years after death on strip club parking lot, family awaits justice."