Man pleads guilty to fatally shooting security guard during East St. Louis bank robbery
A St. Louis man pleaded guilty in a federal court to fatally shooting a bank security guard from St. Libory.
Jaylan D. Quinn, 23, shot and killed Ted Horn, 56, while robbing First Bank in East St. Louis in August 2021.
According the criminal complaint filed in the U. S. Court for the Southern District of Illinois, Quinn and an accomplice, Andrew R. Brinkley, 19, also of St. Louis, entered the bank wearing masks. They handed a note to the teller which said “I got a bomb strapped to my chest - Put all the money in or everyone die.”
They then made their way toward the door and a white Lexus sedan with $1,140 in cash.
Brinkley allegedly shoved Horn out of the way and ran out the door. But Quinn, charging documents state, drew a semi-automatic handgun and shot Horn in the head.
Quinn admitted that he shot Horn because he thought the security guard was going to kill him, court records state. Horn was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting.
The FBI, which led the investigation, released the surveillance photos the day of the crime. Agents later received a call from an off-duty St. Louis County police officer who told them a man he encountered told him one of the men in the photos looks like his son, Andrew, the charges state.
The man told agents his son denied that it was him in the surveillance photo, but he nevertheless encouraged him to turn himself in to authorities to clear his name.
By the next day, federal agents had executed a search warrant of Brinkley’s St. Louis residence and recovered a loaded 9mm handgun, two marked bills that were taken during the First Bank robbery, and clothing that matched what the robbers wore.
A white Lexus sedan also was found parked outside. An Illinois State Police forensic scientist was able to identify a fingerprint left on the demand note as Brinkley’s, the criminal complaint stated.
Brinkley has pleaded guilty to a bank robbery charge and is currently scheduled to appear in court next at 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 11.
“Vicious acts of armed violence in our communities are intolerable,” said U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe. “The U.S. Attorney’s office is prepared to pursue justice in honor of the life lost, and I commend the FBI and our law enforcement partners for their efforts to improve public safety and remove dangerous individuals from society.”
Horn grew up in Belleville and was a graduate of Belleville West. He had been a security guard at First Bank for about 11 years. He previously was stationed at the U. S. Attorney’s office in Fairview Heights for 14 years, according to his obituary.
Horn is survived by his wife, Jana L. Horn, two adult sons, three grandchildren, and his mother, Rosalie Horn.
This story was originally published January 5, 2023 at 6:54 PM.