East St. Louis men indicted in federal court on carjacking, weapons charges

A pair of East St. Louis men were indicted on carjacking charges in a St. Louis federal court Thursday.

Quinn Turner, 20, and Jaylen Mays, 25, were charged in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri on one count of carjacking and one count of possession and brandishing of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Mays was also indicted on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The indictment says Turner, Mays and a juvenile stole a 2017 GMC Terrain from a gas station at the northwest corner of Russell Boulevard and South 7th Street in the Soulard neighborhood of St. Louis on Nov. 13. The three rushed the driver of the GMC, ordered him to the ground and took his wallet and keys, it alleges.

They were stopped by spike strips set by detectives with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s Anti-Crime Task Force and were found to be in possession of a Glock .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol, the indictment says. The juvenile, whose name won’t be released due to his age, was in possession of the victim’s wallet, according to the federal indictment.

The Chevrolet Malibu they allegedly drove to the scene of the carjacking had been stolen in the downtown business district just a week earlier, the motion says.

The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Martin is prosecuting the case.