County court records reveal details of woman’s arrest in O’Fallon shooting
.jpg "A St. Clair County judge has detained an OFallon woman charged in a shooting.")
A St. Clair County judge ordered the detention of an O’Fallon woman whose attorney said she acted in “self-defense” when she fired several gunshots at a man driving away from her during a dispute, according to court records and an O’Fallon police news release.
The man had shot at the woman last year, according to the woman’s attorney.
Sharae M. Howard, 34, was arrested and charged on Monday with four felony counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm in connection with the shooting on April 16 outside her residence in the 500 block of Ponderosa Avenue.
Howard remained in the St. Clair County Jail Thursday after Associate Judge Sara L. Rice conducted a detention hearing on Wednesday and ordered that Howard be held until trial.
No one was injured in the shooting, police said.
A bullet hole was found in the wall of a nearby occupied apartment building, according to a news release Wednesday from the O’Fallon Police Department.
Howard was represented by attorney Bryce Joiner of Edwardsville in the detention hearing.
Joiner could not be reached for comment Thursday but according to court records, he told Rice that the man involved in the April 16 shooting had shot at Howard last year.
In the April 16 shooting, police officers responded at 9:53 p.m. to the 500 block of Ponderosa Avenue “after receiving a call of gun shots fired in the area.”
They found empty shell casings along the edge of the street and a bullet hole in an apartment building.
They also determined that Howard and a male acquaintance had “been involved in an altercation.”
“During the altercation, the male got into a vehicle and began driving away. Sharae fired several shots in the direction of his vehicle as it was leaving the area,” according to the news release.
Charging documents state Howard fired a 9mm handgun.
A neighbor’s security camera video footage shows Howard “retrieving” a firearm and shooting four times “in direction of retreating male,” according to Rice’s order.
The judge’s order states Howard was “disruptive/uncooperative” with police at the scene but later surrendered a firearm to police.
“There was nothing to suggest this was a random act of violence,” according to the police news release. “Sharae and the male appear to have been acquainted however the extent of their relationship is undetermined.”
Howard has pending misdemeanor cases, Rice’s order states.
St. Clair County court records show she faces a battery charge filed in April 2023 by the Fairview Heights Police Department and a fleeing/attempting to elude officer charge filed in October by the East St. Louis Police Department.
Illinois judges have been conducting detention hearings since September 2023 for people charged with serious offenses. If a judge considers a person dangerous to the community, the person can be remanded to the county jail until their trial, according to the revamped criminal justice system that eliminated cash bail as part of the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today, or SAFE-T, Act.
