Centreville man, 19, charged with murder of teen in Cahokia

The Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis announced Friday that Lamondrae D. Garner, 19, of Centreville has been charged with murder in connection with the shooting death of Leroy Short. Short was 19.

Craig Coughlin, deputy commander of the Major Case Squad, said Short died of one gunshot wound late Tuesday night in a St. Louis hospital. Police say Short was alive when authorities arrived at 11:16 p.m. Tuesday night in the 100 block of Amelia Drive outside Cahokia.

Authorities say at least one other person was with Short the night of the shooting.

“In this particular situation, the victim, Mr. Short, had somebody with him, so we did have some people out in the community who were out at that time,” Coughlin said at a news conference Friday. “His death did not occur until he was at the hospital. He died from a single gunshot wound.”

Bail for Garner was set at $1 million. Coughlin said Garner was taken into custody at his residence on Wednesday afternoon.

“There are numerous leads still left. There is a lot of work to do. We are confident that we do have the shooter in this case; however, we still have a lot of work to do,” Coughlin added.

Investigators did not elaborate on other details of the case or a motive.

St. Clair County Sheriff Richard Watson requested the activation of the Major Case Squad shortly after the shooting. Witnesses reported seeing a motorist fleeing the area at about the time of the shooting.

Coughlin ended the briefing Friday by thanking the public for its support as well as the Major Case Squad. Authorities say the community “played a big part” in the investigation.

“I would like to thank the community for coming forward and assisting in the investigation,” Coughlin said. “I would like to thank my co-workers here at the squad for their assistance, long hours and bringing a resolution to this case.”

This story was originally published April 8, 2016 at 4:03 PM with the headline "Centreville man, 19, charged with murder of teen in Cahokia."