Mom of metro-east cop who died in the line of duty says her son ‘won’ with killer’s sentence

The mother of a metro-east police officer who was killed in the line of duty said her son received justice in a Madison County Courtroom on Monday.

A jury found Caleb L. Campbell, 24, of Florissant, Missouri, guilty of first-degree murder after he hit and killed Officer Brian Pierce Jr. on the McKinley Bridge in 2021.

On Monday, Madison County Associate Judge Neil Schroeder sentenced Campbell to life in prison, plus 13 years.

“You murdered an innocent man to save your own butt. Was it worth it?” Tammy Pierce said to her son’s killer during her victim-impact statement.

She then thanked the victim advocate from the State’s Attorney’s Office who has “shed so many tears with us.

“Today, Caleb, he won,” Tammy Pierce said.

Brian Pierce was setting up a spike strip on the McKinley Bridge on Aug. 4, 2021, in an attempt to stop the fleeing red, 2009 Dodge Charger that police later learned was driven by Campbell. Campbell had fled from police at a Brooklyn nightclub, plowed past barricades at speeds of up to 98 mph, and struck Pierce on the bridge, killing him instantly, according to court records.

Campbell had a handgun in the vehicle and an active Missouri warrant for his arrest when he fled from a different Brooklyn officer who was attempting to stop the driver for traffic violations.

Pierce, 24, who lived in Carbondale, had been a firefighter in nearby Makanda, and commuted 100 miles to his job as a police officer in Brooklyn. Being a first responder was his life’s passion, his mother and several of his fellow officers have said.

“The loss felt by the family and loved ones of Officer Pierce is unimaginable,” said Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine, following Monday’s sentencing hearing. “There is no sentence that could even begin to give them a sense that justice has been adequately served. Officer Pierce and his family will remain in our prayers.”

In a victim-impact statement, Pierce’s sister, Alexis Castro, said her brother’s death has affected her entire family.

“We all died that day,” she said.

She also offered an apology to her brother’s patrol partner that night on the bridge.

“I am so sorry for what you had to witness,” Castro said.

Despite being appointed a public defender and the court’s recommendation against it, Campbell filed a motion to act as his own attorney at the trial.

He later filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court alleging his civil rights were violated and pinning the blame for Brian Pierce’s death on the Brooklyn Police Department for not training him. The case was dismissed in July.

Then, according to court records, Campbell sent a letter to Assistant State’s Attorney Lauren Maricle, in which he expressed confidence that most of the charges against him would be dropped. He told her he was “willing to take probation” with credit for time served.

“My children really need me home,” Campbell wrote in the neatly hand-printed letter. “... I’m a reasonable person and I really do feel bad that the victim’s family have to suffer the loss of a loved one.”

Maricle argued Monday that a lengthy sentence for Campbell was necessary, in part, to send a message that if you flee from police and end up killing someone, “you’re guilty of murder, and you’ll go to prison for a long time.”

According to a news release from Haine’s office, Judge Schroeder’s sentence consisted of a term of natural life for first-degree murder, 10 years in prison for failure to report an accident involving injury or death, and three years in prison for failure to stop following an accident involving injury or death.

“As I’ve stressed before in this case, fleeing from the police is always wrong and dangerous, and if an officer dies as a result of such actions, those responsible for killing the officer will face murder charges,” Haine stated in the release.

This story was originally published January 23, 2023 at 6:47 PM.