ST. LOUIS — A 19-year-old father, Ca’Marion Pawnell, has been charged with second-degree murder and child endangerment after a 7-month-old girl was fatally shot Friday afternoon, June 26, 2026, inside a north St. Louis home, according to St. Louis Metropolitan Police.
The infant, identified by St. Louis Police as Kiyomi Parker, was shot around 4 p.m. Friday inside a home in the 8400 block of North Broadway in the city’s Baden neighborhood. Police said Kiyomi later died at a hospital. A 10-year-old boy also was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting.
While the state passed a 2024 law requiring minors to be at least 12 years old before they can be certified to stand trial in adult court, Missouri has no minimum age requirement for charging children with dangerous felonies — including first-degree murder— in the juvenile justice system.
According to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, officers rushed the infant to a hospital in a police SUV while performing lifesaving care and shutting down streets to create an emergency escort. Despite those efforts, Kiyomi died at the hospital.
Pawnell was charged with second-degree murder, first-degree endangering the welfare of a child resulting in death, and two counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child for putting two other children at risk.
According to a probable cause statement, investigators learned the 10-year-old picked up a handgun and shot the infant once in the head. A 7-year-old also was inside the home at the time of the shooting.
Investigators allege Pawnell stored the firearm underneath a mattress in a bedroom where he knew it was accessible to the children.
All individuals charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
