St. Louis man charged with murder in St. Patrick’s day Maryville shooting
A St. Louis man has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a man who was found dead on St. Patrick’s Day in Maryville.
Authorities said in a news conference Monday that both men are from Missouri, they knew each other for many years and they drove to Madison County together just before the shooting.
The Madison County State’s Attorney’s office on Monday charged Danyiel M. Johnson, 40, of St. Louis, in the death of Ronald Holland, 40, of Jennings.
A person found Holland’s body in the 2000 block of North Bluff Road and called 911 at 4:05 p.m. Thursday, saying he appeared to have been shot multiple times. The Maryville Police Department responded to the call and requested assistance from the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis to investigate.
Maryville Police Chief Rob Carpenter said his department has one detective. The Major Case Squad sent more than 20 investigators to Maryville to help.
Carpenter stressed that the crime “really had not much to do with Maryville.”
“Both the victim and the suspect were just passing through and just happened to pull over in our city limits and commit a heinous crime,” Carpenter said.
Johnson faces two counts of first-degree murder, one count of use of a stolen firearm and one count of unlawful possession of weapons by a felon.
Detective Lt. Bryan Bauer, of the Madison County Sheriff’s office, said the Normandy Police Department arrested Johnson Sunday morning and that he remained in custody at the St. Louis County Detention Center. Bauer is the deputy commander of the Major Case Squad.
Officials declined to answer questions about motive, evidence or the crime scene, including how many times Holland was shot. Bauer said they would not discuss those details out of respect for Holland’s family and their privacy.
“I would like to express my condolences to the family, the friends directly affected,” Bauer said during the news conference.
This story was originally published March 21, 2022 at 4:20 PM.
