Man charged with shooting Belleville woman in the head and stealing her purse
A Kansas City area man was charged Monday with robbing a woman and shooting her in the head in the parking lot of her Belleville employer on Jan. 12.
St. Clair County State’s Attorney Jim Gomric’s office charged Ki’Juan Calhoun, 24, of 3502 North West 71st Terrace in Gladstone, Missouri, with armed robbery, aggravated battery with the discharge of a weapon and possession of a stolen vehicle.
Police say Calhoun approached the woman as she was stepping out of her vehicle in the parking lot of a commercial building in the 9200 block of West Main Street shortly after 8 a.m. He displayed a handgun and demanded her purse, police say.
After a struggle, police allege, Calhoun shot the woman once in the head and fled west on foot with her purse, iPhone and some cash.
The woman was treated at an area hospital with a non-life threatening injury.
Belleville Police Capt. Mark Heffernan said the investigation has been complex because it involved several local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
But detectives were able to locate the vehicle Calhoun allegedly used to get away in Collinsville and discovered that it had been reported stolen in Gladstone, Missouri, Heffernan said.
“Detectives were able to identify the suspect who lived in the Kansas City, Missouri suburb of Gladstone,” Heffernan said. “The suspect was taken into custody on January 22 in the Kansas City area reference to unrelated charges.
“Search warrants were executed and investigative leads were followed from January 22 until today, which led to charges in the west Belleville case.”
Calhoun was extradited to Illinois and is being held at the St. Clair County Jail in lieu of $750,00 bond.
Heffernan thanked the St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s office, Illinois State Police Metro East laboratory, Gladstone Police Department, Clay County, Missouri detention Center, the U.S. Marshals Service Great Lakes Fugitive Task Force, and the Marshals Midwest Fugitive Task Force for assisting in the investigation.
This story was originally published January 31, 2022 at 3:54 PM.
